• Taser company Axon wants to build a new headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, but plans for apartments are causing controversy.
• Opponents argue Scottsdale has enough apartments and want Axon to build without housing, while the company says it’s essential for attracting employees.
• The Arizona House is considering a bill that would override local zoning laws and allow the project to proceed, despite a referendum challenging the development.

A bill that would pave the way for Taser maker Axon to build its campus in north Scottsdale cleared its first hurdle, but the company’s desire to build apartments remains the crux of a controversy in which neither side is willing to budge.

Opponents to the bill, which would loosen zoning laws to allow apartments and hotels to be built as ancillary developments to corporate global headquarters, contend that Scottsdale has thousands of apartments in the development pipeline, and has no need for more.

Supporters of the bill claim the company headquarters is not viable without the apartments, which will include units reserved for Axon employees. Axon, which posted revenues of $2.1 billion in 2024, says it will employ 5,500 people at the new headquarters, if it gets built.

Axon’s proposal includes an expanded global headquarters for the law enforcement technology company, along with a hotel and about 1,900 multifamily housing units, including both for-sale and for-rent units.

The proposal has been subject to intense controversy after a group opposing the project, called Taxpayers Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE) gathered enough signatures to force an election over the Scottsdale City Council’s late 2024 approval of the project.

The bill would effectively nullify any outcome of the referendum election, because if passed, the project would be allowed to be built with the site’s existing zoning without the change that has been challenged.

The Arizona House of Representatives’ International Trade committee voted unanimously March 26 to advance the bill, with two members absent from voting.

The bill is still in the hearing process and requires approval from both the legislature and the governor before it could be enacted into law.

Apartments ‘100%’ the source of the Axon HQ controversy

At the committee hearing, all three speakers who spoke in opposition to the bill said without the apartments, they would embrace Axon. Two Scottsdale councilmembers, Vice Mayor Jan Dubauskas and Councilman Barry Graham, spoke in opposition to the bill, along with former Arizona legislator Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who spoke on behalf of TAAAZE.

When questioned by legislators on the committee, Ugenti-Rita said apartments were “100%” the reason behind her group’s opposition, but said the bill’s subversion of the referendum process denies Scottsdale residents their right to vote on the issue.

“This isn’t about taking care of jobs or economic growth,” she said in the hearing, which was standing room only, full of Axon employees wearing matching yellow shirts. “This is about one man who wants to avoid an election.”  

Ugenti-Rita said the issue should be decided by Scottsdale residents and leadership, not at the state level.

If the proposal was so strong, she said, Axon executives would be in Scottsdale working to gain support, not trying to avoid a potential loss at the election.

TAAAZE members who have led the charge opposing Axon have said they are prepared to sue the state over the bill if it is passed into law.

“Axon can expect a tooth-and-nail fight in court if its bill survives,” Bob Littlefield, former Scottsdale Councilman and leader of TAAAZE, said in an email. “In addition, TAAAZE is prepared to challenge this legislation via referendum at the ballot box, assuming Axon doesn’t convince the legislature to take away more voting rights.”

Both Dubauskas and Graham echoed that their opposition only hinged on the apartments.

“Residents would look me in the eye and say, ‘Can you stop the apartments?’” Dubauskas said of her time campaigning for City Council.

Scottsdale is proud to have Axon in the community, she said, adding there is no opposition over the hotel and restaurant uses proposed on the site.

Graham was on the city’s Planning Commission when Axon brought forward the first version of the plan, which involved only the company’s global headquarters. He said at the time he supported the proposal, which did not include apartments.

However, Graham said he hoped his opposition to the apartments did not drive Axon away from the city.

“They purchased their property with the zoning, and we hope they use it to its fullest extent,” he said.

Scottsdale’s ‘anti-development’ stance criticized

However, lawmakers on the committee said they felt frustrated with the opposition to the development without effort to compromise, and said they felt there was an overall anti-development sentiment from Scottsdale.

Graham said he disagreed with the notion that Scottsdale is anti-development and said there are many new developments in the pipeline that were approved by the city.

House Majority Leader Michael Carbone, a Republican from Buckeye, said Scottsdale has not supported statewide legislation that promotes housing or attempts to make homeownership more affordable. They city, he said, has done little to make housing accessible for essential workers.

Justin Wilmeth, a Republican from north Phoenix, pointed to the Arizona Coyotes’ attempt to develop a site in Phoenix that bordered Scottsdale. While the site was in Phoenix, then-Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega voiced opposition for the project because of its proximity to Scottsdale.

“The Arizona Coyotes should be on (that site) and you guys helped mess that up,” Wilmeth said of the Scottsdale City Council.  

Consuelo Hernandez, a Democrat from Tucson, said the opposition to the apartments “screams ‘not in my backyard.’”

The three speakers who addressed the committee opposing the bill said they would be willing to meet with Axon to negotiate, but did not provide specific points that would lead to a consensus.

Bill supporters: Keeping a global headquarters in Arizona is essential

Without the bill, the Axon proposed development is scheduled to go before Scottsdale voters in November 2026. However, company executives have repeatedly said there is no willingness to wait that long for a decision on the future headquarters location.

Axon CEO Rick Smith said the company’s board of directors has given him a deadline of the end of the legislative session to decide.

Supporters of the bill who spoke at the hearing were Peoria Mayor Jason Beck, Greater Phoenix Leadership CEO Neil Giuliano and Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Danny Seiden.

Guiliano said having a company’s global headquarters in Arizona can drive further economic development, and said a campus like the one Axon is proposing is a sustainable approach that allows people to live near their jobs if they choose.

Having housing options in a city for workers who work there is important, Seiden said.

New businesses, new jobs and company relocations to Arizona are things that any city would want and celebrate, he said.

“To say we don’t want workers to be able to afford to live in the same city, that’s just not right,” he said.

When asked by Rep. Stacey Travers, a Democrat from Phoenix, if there were any other businesses that would also be able to use the proposed benefits in the legislation, Seiden said he did not know of any others, but that the bill would set the stage for others to consider Arizona as a corporate headquarters location.

Beck, mayor of Peoria and CEO of Tyr Tactical, a manufacturer of law enforcement safety equipment, said the consequences of not finding a way to secure Axon in Arizona would be “catastrophic to economic development.”

“I’d take this opportunity in a heartbeat, and I would beg for it,” Beck told the committee.

Legislators request negotiation between Axon, Scottsdale

Several members of the committee said they voted in favor of moving the bill forward, but would prefer to see a productive dialogue between the city and Axon.

While they could not require the two groups to meet, legislators said they hoped there could be a solution worked out between parties.

After the hearing, Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowksy said in a statement she would like to work with the company on a compromise.

“I stand ready to work with Axon to achieve reasonable goals with their leadership while protecting our city and our residents’ interests,” she said in a statement. “I am a strong believer in ‘the art of the possible’ and I am confident we can achieve a workable solution, if all in good faith. I hope I can count on Rick Smith and his team to do the same.”

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Corina Vanek covers development for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X @CorinaVanek.