The Town Council voted 7-0 to amend the nuisances of the Town Code as it pertains to idling motor vehicles that impact residents "directly adjacent" to a new development property.
It was decided the amended code will be more effective with the new language.
As for the amendment which would have extended construction hours work permit, that had a lot more questions than answers. Therefore the council voted to continue this to a later date to clarify the wording.
Perhaps enforcing existing codes as to violations of work hours would be a good start.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
No Big Surprise---Judge Rules Against Goldwater Institute. Appeal Forthcoming
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Miles ruled that a $97.4 million taxpayer subsidy for the upscale CityNorth shopping mall is constitutional.
The Goldwater Institute will promptly appeal the decision. Clint Bolick stated, “We remain confident that the courts will vindicate the rights of Arizona taxpayers.”
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=2134
The Goldwater Institute will promptly appeal the decision. Clint Bolick stated, “We remain confident that the courts will vindicate the rights of Arizona taxpayers.”
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=2134
YIKES!!! Have You Seen AZ SB1406? It's A Killer!!! (Continued)
On Friday March 21, we did a posting with the above headline. In the April 2 Explorer, reporter Patrick McNamara picks up on the issue of SB1406.
We're not sure of the position of the whole Oro Valley Town Council on this bill, but can tell you from conversations I have had with Paula Abbott & KC Carter, they are adamantly opposed. It's also good to see both Barry Gillaspie & Terry Parish quoted in the article, taking the same position.
Not surprising that SAHBA is all for it, and why not. After all, the home builders hate impact fees, even though they have been so undercharged by Oro Valley for years and years.
It's good to see that our Representative, Nancy Young Wright say, "she’s “absolutely opposed” to the bill, adding, “I think it’s a very bad idea, for the taxpayers, to do this for the development community.”
On the other hand, Representative, Pete Hersberger said,“There’s some measure of reasonability to this bill” which was sponsored by Senate President Tim Bee from Tucson.
Read the Explorer article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/article/show/21762
We're not sure of the position of the whole Oro Valley Town Council on this bill, but can tell you from conversations I have had with Paula Abbott & KC Carter, they are adamantly opposed. It's also good to see both Barry Gillaspie & Terry Parish quoted in the article, taking the same position.
Not surprising that SAHBA is all for it, and why not. After all, the home builders hate impact fees, even though they have been so undercharged by Oro Valley for years and years.
It's good to see that our Representative, Nancy Young Wright say, "she’s “absolutely opposed” to the bill, adding, “I think it’s a very bad idea, for the taxpayers, to do this for the development community.”
On the other hand, Representative, Pete Hersberger said,“There’s some measure of reasonability to this bill” which was sponsored by Senate President Tim Bee from Tucson.
Read the Explorer article here.
http://www.explorernews.com/article/show/21762
Phil Richardson's Letter To The Explorer--- "It's Like Being Nibbled To Death By Ducks"
Someone compared it to being nibbled to death by ducks.
At the time the Oro Valley Council enacted their little “franchise fee” that added $3.04 to our Comcast bills each month, (yours may vary slightly, according to the class of service provided by the cable company), OV executive Scott Nelson reportedly bragged to friends that “We finally got the camel’s nose under the tent,” an old Arabian saying that portends a small bite of mutton each month that we would hardly notice being taken, but once the tent stakes are pulled up one by one, we will have a voracious creature inside devouring our savings and taking a lot of pleasure out of living in the Prettiest Town in the West. Just how much are we willing to pay to enjoy those breathtaking mountain vistas?
After the pittance paid to Comcast came the infamous Oro Valley Utility Tax of 2 percent that is also not being paid by folks one foot outside the town boundaries. In my case this monthly tax payment added $1.32 to our bill from the power company, $6.22 to our gas bill and a picayune 10 cents to the phone bill.
This was followed in the cascade by an increase of $101.14 in fire protection for a total of $344, or an added $8.44 more per month—about 50 percent more than paid by others getting the identical service across the street, but outside the Oro Valley town limits.
Now comes a notice that we can expect a $2.90 per month “Stormwater Fee” for the Oro Valley Water Department come February. This despite the fact our neighborhood is 200 feet above the Canyon del Oro wash and none of our water is supplied by the Oro Valley water facility.
Most of the money is going to help rescue the hapless who build their California-tiled homes in areas where they really should not have been allowed to build. If hydrologists are correct, one day many of their dreams will be swept down to the Santa Cruz River five miles to the west. In the meantime, another $2 million bridge will need to be built to keep the commuters using La Cholla Boulevard across soggy bottom, where the value of mud is greatly appreciated every time we get a shower.
Enough? Oh, but we have just started compiling the cost of trying to keep what was once the “Florence Highway” from becoming the largest parking lot in Pima County. You are aware of the quickly approaching Naranja (Orange) Park vote in November, when we will be allowed to pick the amount of the property tax we wish to pay for the next 25 years.
I love parks. I personally chaired a bonding committee that built a dozen neighborhood “pocket parks” all across Pima County. Oro Valley needs a nice northside park. $48,000,000 should not be an onerous amount. The swimming pool and other exercise equipment at the YMCA on north Shannon and the courts at Arthur Pack Park on Thornydale are just too far away. Granted, Catalina State Park is within spitting distance, but it doesn’t offer anything but hiking and camping.
Naranja Park is also destined to become the new town governmental center. Do not be dismayed. Non-stop growth is the pyramidal premise upon which all governmental structures are based: It’s the nature of the beast. Demonstrate an excess of work and soon you can train a secretary and / or assistant so that they can begin building their own departments, replete with staff, computers and cars.
The thing I detest is the property tax that Oro Valley hopes we will be foolish enough to impose upon ourselves. But another $10 to $20 added to the $22 more per month being excised from my wallet now in order to take advantage of the new Wal-Mart will pale in comparison to the cost those of us in the older neighborhoods will be expected to shoulder in order to pay for the infrastructure needed for the inhabitation of 14 square miles Oro Valley hopes to acquire in the northside desert despoilation scheme.
Remember these two words: “Arroyo Grande” (“Big Ditch,” for those for whom English is a first and only language), for they will haunt the headlines and your worst nightmares in the months and years to come if plans to raze 14 square miles of pristine desert north of town for future developers is not contained and curtailed.
If I don’t like it, why don’t I just pick up and leave? That’s like Hitler asking the Poles to go elsewhere. We wuz here first! Since you drafted us into Oro Valley, we intend to be good citizens and participate fully in the democratic process.
In order to quit this tirade on a note of hope, the latest change next November of those occupying most of the seats on the Town Council promises a change of policies that will better control growth and hold out a little bit of hope for all of we desert creatures.
Phil Richardson
Oro Valley
At the time the Oro Valley Council enacted their little “franchise fee” that added $3.04 to our Comcast bills each month, (yours may vary slightly, according to the class of service provided by the cable company), OV executive Scott Nelson reportedly bragged to friends that “We finally got the camel’s nose under the tent,” an old Arabian saying that portends a small bite of mutton each month that we would hardly notice being taken, but once the tent stakes are pulled up one by one, we will have a voracious creature inside devouring our savings and taking a lot of pleasure out of living in the Prettiest Town in the West. Just how much are we willing to pay to enjoy those breathtaking mountain vistas?
After the pittance paid to Comcast came the infamous Oro Valley Utility Tax of 2 percent that is also not being paid by folks one foot outside the town boundaries. In my case this monthly tax payment added $1.32 to our bill from the power company, $6.22 to our gas bill and a picayune 10 cents to the phone bill.
This was followed in the cascade by an increase of $101.14 in fire protection for a total of $344, or an added $8.44 more per month—about 50 percent more than paid by others getting the identical service across the street, but outside the Oro Valley town limits.
Now comes a notice that we can expect a $2.90 per month “Stormwater Fee” for the Oro Valley Water Department come February. This despite the fact our neighborhood is 200 feet above the Canyon del Oro wash and none of our water is supplied by the Oro Valley water facility.
Most of the money is going to help rescue the hapless who build their California-tiled homes in areas where they really should not have been allowed to build. If hydrologists are correct, one day many of their dreams will be swept down to the Santa Cruz River five miles to the west. In the meantime, another $2 million bridge will need to be built to keep the commuters using La Cholla Boulevard across soggy bottom, where the value of mud is greatly appreciated every time we get a shower.
Enough? Oh, but we have just started compiling the cost of trying to keep what was once the “Florence Highway” from becoming the largest parking lot in Pima County. You are aware of the quickly approaching Naranja (Orange) Park vote in November, when we will be allowed to pick the amount of the property tax we wish to pay for the next 25 years.
I love parks. I personally chaired a bonding committee that built a dozen neighborhood “pocket parks” all across Pima County. Oro Valley needs a nice northside park. $48,000,000 should not be an onerous amount. The swimming pool and other exercise equipment at the YMCA on north Shannon and the courts at Arthur Pack Park on Thornydale are just too far away. Granted, Catalina State Park is within spitting distance, but it doesn’t offer anything but hiking and camping.
Naranja Park is also destined to become the new town governmental center. Do not be dismayed. Non-stop growth is the pyramidal premise upon which all governmental structures are based: It’s the nature of the beast. Demonstrate an excess of work and soon you can train a secretary and / or assistant so that they can begin building their own departments, replete with staff, computers and cars.
The thing I detest is the property tax that Oro Valley hopes we will be foolish enough to impose upon ourselves. But another $10 to $20 added to the $22 more per month being excised from my wallet now in order to take advantage of the new Wal-Mart will pale in comparison to the cost those of us in the older neighborhoods will be expected to shoulder in order to pay for the infrastructure needed for the inhabitation of 14 square miles Oro Valley hopes to acquire in the northside desert despoilation scheme.
Remember these two words: “Arroyo Grande” (“Big Ditch,” for those for whom English is a first and only language), for they will haunt the headlines and your worst nightmares in the months and years to come if plans to raze 14 square miles of pristine desert north of town for future developers is not contained and curtailed.
If I don’t like it, why don’t I just pick up and leave? That’s like Hitler asking the Poles to go elsewhere. We wuz here first! Since you drafted us into Oro Valley, we intend to be good citizens and participate fully in the democratic process.
In order to quit this tirade on a note of hope, the latest change next November of those occupying most of the seats on the Town Council promises a change of policies that will better control growth and hold out a little bit of hope for all of we desert creatures.
Phil Richardson
Oro Valley
Wal-Mart Comes To Their Senses---Finally
Wal-Mart finally came to their senses, after a lot of pressure, and dropped their lawsuit against Mrs. Shank in order to collect over $400,000 in health-care reimbursement. Mrs. Shank is confined to a southeast Missouri nursing home since she suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.
Read the details from the WSJ here.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120708739471181553.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Read the details from the WSJ here.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120708739471181553.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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