The council directed Community Development staff to craft an ordinance that would legally ban big-box retailers on environmentally sensitive land, north of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, says Kroy Ekblaw, director of the Community Development department.

Local zoning attorneys representing some of the large retailers have said that any ban would be illegal, but City Attorney David Pennartz says he can draft a version that would be legal. The ordinance would be part of the city's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance, which was passed in 1991 to preserve open desert, and it would apply to any commercial building over 75,000 sf in size and

The proposed ordinance grew out of an effort last summer by residents to prevent a Home Depot store from being built at Scottsdale and Dove Valley roads. The site is in the far north portion of Scottsdale, near Carefree and Cave Creek, and surrounded by some of the most opulent master-planned communities in the Valley.

A grassroots coalition of developers and Scottsdale residents agreed to ban giant retail stores from environmentally sensitive areas, but zoning attorneys fought the measure.

The Planning Commission will consider the ordinance May 9, and the council will consider the legal issues May 22. The council will vote on the ordinance June 19.