Board to city: Do better on giant water tank

Mar. 20—The Design Review Board reacted negatively last week to plans submitted by the City of Mesa for a 500,000-gallon water tank and pump station on the northeast corner of Val Vista Drive and Thomas Road.

The tank would be located next to former agricultural land that Blandford Homes is currently developing as high-end housing surrounding an "agritainment district" anchored by the Jalapeño Bucks barbecue stand.

The city is proposing to build the reclaimed-water tank and equipment to feed water into the $180 million Central Mesa Reuse Pipeline now under construction. When completed, the pipeline will give Mesa additional Colorado River water credits through a reclaimed water exchange with the Gila River Indian Community.

The city recently purchased the land from ADOT, which deemed the parcel surplus to its right-of-way for the Loop 202 Red Mountain.

A city engineer said for technical reasons related to the function of the pipeline, the city needed to install a pump station and tank somewhere in this vicinity.

With the pipeline largely buried underground, the water tank may be the most visible reminder of one of the city's most expensive infrastructure projects.

The Design Review board, which considers the appearance of new developments, was unanimous in asking the city to go back to the drawing board and improve the utilitarian look of the 25-foot-tall, 66-foot-wide tank and adjacent equipment.

"I know this is a tank, but it's very prominent, and a lot of people are going to see it," Chair Dane Astle said.

The board only issues recommendations, and the city council will have the ultimate say over which designs to approve, but the force of last week's comments could weigh on the council's decision.

"It's not a very beautiful design," board member Paul Johnson said. "Are we doing right by our community by allowing a structure like this to just go in as (presented)?"

He was backed up by many others on the board.

"My takeaway is that it's engineered, but it's not really designed as far as thinking about the aesthetics," Justin Trexler said.

Trexler said the board needed "to make sure that we're holding the City of Mesa buildings to the same standard that we hold non-public buildings."

Multiple board members pointed out that the pipeline tank in question is planned for a site adjacent to the Loop 202, so it could affect travelers' perception of the city.

They also noted that the vicinity around the water tank offers "amazing views" of the mountains to the north, which would be compromised by the current design.

Another board member said, "I would not want to own property on Thomas that's overlooking this."

Board members encouraged the architects to use their creativity, but some of the ideas thrown out by board members included adding art to the tank or making the 8-foot screen wall more attractive.

They cited the water tower at Falcon Field and the large water tank at Desert Trails Bike Park as potential examples of successful beautification.

Part of the site is underneath power lines, and city staff said this prevented planting trees on part of the site to help screen.

Astle thought the lack of trees exacerbated the ugliness of the facility.

Some board members suggested the best scenario would be to bury or lower the height of the tank, but city staff were unsure if this was feasible.

A senior engineer for the outside architect contracted by the city said the height of the tank was determined by the hydraulic needs of the system.

A city engineer added that the sandy composition of the soil close to the Salt River could make burying the tank a challenge. Still, he promised the city would evaluate whether that was possible.

As far as aesthetics, the city engineer said the department had been in communication with Blandford Homes. He said that the screening wall was designed to match the current palate planned for the single-family home subdivision planned to the south.

For the board, this wasn't nearly enough. The board challenged the city to get more creative in making the industrial facility attractive — or at least less ugly.

"Make it actually feel like a building that is designed and not necessarily just a tank," Astle suggested.