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By Philip Franchine
GREEN VALLEY NEWS
September 12, 2003
Developer
Bob Sharpe is trying again for Sahuarita town approval to add 274 acres to
the Rancho Sahuarita subdivision and to rezone the area, but for only
1,000 new homes, half the original number.
Sharpe said Thursday, "We're going to give a proposal to the Planning
and Zoning director within the next few days. We will try to address some
of the concerns of Town Council members who voted against the plan
amendment to the Rancho Sahuarita Master Plan."
Sharpe's
plan is to add 265 acres owned by Asarco and 9 owned by the MacKay family
north of the existing subdivision. The original proposal included a
rezoning that would add up to 2,000 more housing units.
Despite the presence of nearly 300 Sharpe supporters, the town council
shot that down proposal by a 4-3 vote on Monday, citing excessive density
and a lack of space zoned for commercial and employment centers in an area
designated for mixed use by the town General Plan.
Sahuarita
Corridor
Another objection was the possibility that the state will locate the
Sahuarita Corridor truck bypass linking Interstates 19 and 10 through that
area.
The
proposal would have increased the density of the overall project, which
now is zoned for 10,680 units on 2,880 acres, or 3.7 units per acre.
Though the new units could go anywhere in the subdivision, 2,000 units on
274 acres would average out to 7.3 units per acre, about double the
current density.
Sharpe indicated that he hopes to win approval for 1,000 units. If that
were the case, the density would be about the same as on the existing
acreage. In a last-minute bid Monday to win over critics on the council, Sharpe's
lobbyist, Michael Racy, offered three concessions.
One was to drop a provision for narrower right of ways, and one was to pay
for a bridge over a wash for
Greenough Ranch Road
, meaning there would be an all-weather northern exit from Rancho
Sahuarita. The bridge is valued at between $300,000 (town estimate) and
$1.5 million (Sharpe estimate).
The third concession was to limit the number of places where
age-restricted subdivisions would be allowed. Council Member Zachery
Freeland, who made the motion favoring the plan amendment, proposed
limiting age-restrictions to the current Pulte subdivision, Rancho Resort,
and an area south of Rancho Resort around the landfill.
Racy also said Sharpe would reserve land for a 10-acre regional ballfield
park in the 274-acre area, but noted that "we hope to build
infrastructure there with the CFD."
Taxing
district
The CFD is a Community Facilities (taxing) District that Sharpe has
proposed. The CFD proposal was originally on the Monday council meeting
agenda, but was postponed last Friday because lawyers for the town and
developer were still negotiating a list of improvements that would be
funded by the CFD.
Sharpe said the CFD would levy taxes only on about 5,000 lots in the
existing subdivision that have not yet been sold, plus another 1,000 in
the 274-acre area.
Many residents showed up at the meeting after receiving flyers discussing
the CFD, only to discover it had been taken off agenda on the previous
Friday.
Sharpe said that occurred because the flyers had been prepared for the
Labor Day weekend. He has often tied together the plan amendment, the CFD
and his plans for a
Town
Center
, arguing that the CFD and plan amendment would provide the funding for
more parks and amenities.
The overflow crowd was greeted with an unusual announcement by Town
Attorney Dan Hochuli, who said that, while audience members might speak
about the CFD, the council could not respond, under the state Open Meeting
Law.
Hochuli said, "At the
Lake
Park (earlier Monday), I was handed a community alert flyers that urges
people to come to the meeting. It talks about the CFD, which is off the
agenda.
"That is a financing district that would tax new houses in Rancho
Sahuarita to provide infrastructure, roads, parks, drainageways--some of
which would be built otherwise, and some are additional--that would be
built as described in the community alert," Hochuli said.
"We had a meeting last Friday with Sharpe and his lawyers and our
lawyers and as a result we explained to Sharpe and his team that it's
premature to get into that issue. We don't know what infrastructure would
be built. We are trying to negotiate that now."
"We pulled the CFD (from the agenda). We felt it was premature when
we are partway through negotiations. Under the open meeting law, if it is
not on the agenda, you (council members) are not legally permitted to
discuss the CFD," Hochuli said.
Many residents said to loud applause they wanted more parks and walking
and bike trails within Rancho Sahuarita. Several criticized town officials
who have raised questions about Sharpe's statements.
Sharpe said he is committed to providing $30 million in roads and sewers
and that the CFD would fund at least an extra $10 million in improvements,
though just before the council meeting he made public a list of $13.8
million in additional improvements he said would be made possible only
through the CFD.
Cost
of CFD
The CFD would cost the owner of a $150,000 home $35 a month, or $420 a
year, over 25 years, or $10,500.
Sharpe said the average home price now is $200,000, and so the average
cost of the CFD would be one-third higher, or $13,650 over 25 years.
By contrast, the town's new construction sales tax, which is now at 3
percent (at 65 percent of the sales price), will generate $3,900 per
$200,000 house. It is levied at the time of sale and would apply to all
new homes and other buildings in town. It could go up to 4 percent,
generating another $1,300 on an average home.
Sharpe said about 50 new homes a month are being built in the subdivision.
The question of who pays for growth causes some strange twists.
At Monday's meeting, Sharpe lobbyist, Racy noted that Marana has a 4
percent new construction sales tax and that developers supported it
without any fight.
Those developers include Diamond Ventures, which is a partner of Sharpe's
in Rancho Sahuarita and has another project in Sahuarita. Yet Sharpe has
opposed increasing the construction tax.
On the other hand, if town officials oppose the CFD, they will be in the
position of opposing what municipal officials are constantly
advocating--that newcomers should pay for the new facilities needed to
serve them.
While Mayor Richard Grabowski has taken some lumps for publicly raising
questions about the CFD, town officials, including Hochuli and Town
Manager Jim Stahle, are negotiating with Racy a list of infrastructure
items to be built by the CFD.
Town
hall site
The town appears to have settled on a town hall site within Sharpe's town
center near the post office. Both sides are negotiating whether to locate
the new town hall on the six acres Sharpe has already dedicated for a town
hall or on four adjacent acres on which the town has an option, according
to a Sept. 6 letter from Hochuli to Sharpe.
One question that arose during Monday's council meeting was whether
churches, child care and educational facilities could be allowed in Rancho
Sahuarita under the current specific plan.
The original Rancho Sahuarita Specific Plan omitted any reference to those
issues and town staff asked Sharpe to include them in the 274-acre plan
amendment. The planning and zoning commissioners said they favored that
section of the plan amendment, but voted it down for other reasons.
Town Planning Director John Neunuebel surprised many at the meeting by
saying that the town could handle that matter administratively. Neunuebel
did not elaborate, but such uses are generally allowed in residential
areas.
The Rev. Jim Halsted, a Rancho Sahuarita resident who is trying to start a
church and is on the staff at the
Lutheran
Church
of the Risen Savior in
Green
Valley
, said "I am leery of leaving it up to staff."
Mixed
use
Halsted also said he is worried about the mixed use designation for the
274 acres in the town General Plan, saying, "Do I want light
industrial next to my subdivision?"
Planning Commissioner Ann Phillips said light industrial might provide
jobs that would support local home ownership.
"I don't know where your kids are going to live. They're going to
have to some work besides Wal-Mart (to afford a home in Rancho Sahuarita).
Light industrial has good-paying jobs," Phillips said.
pfranchine@gvnews.com
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