Monday, March 9, 2009

Another Broken Promise: Camping At Wal-Mart

What better way to enjoy the "great outdoors" than to camp overnight at a Wal-Mart. Known throughout the country as a great place to stay overnight, you, too, can have a spot overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot at the new, Oro Valley Marketplace, conveniently adjacent to beautiful Catalina State Park.

"We were led to believe no overnight camping was going to be allowed. I suppose,"writes a blogger" that we should just get used to it. Another broken promise in the trail of double talking, whispering sweet nothing doings, and downright lying rhetoric."

Watch a video provided by one of our bloggers

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

If this was just a 'promise' then I suppose that all one can do is add it to the list of promises made, promises broken. If this is an ordinance then this should be a subject for the Town Manager to take up with P&Z and the Police Department and get the code enforced. If it is a code and/or a promise then it should be demanded that signs be posted that overnight 'parking' is not allowed and as such should be enforced in any case. If the above is not rectified in simple manner then Council needs to get involved big time.

artmarth said...

Tucson Area Campgrounds

The desert community of Oro Valley is surrounded by bold mountains that rise dramatically from the beautiful Sonoran desert foothills.

Campgrounds at Oro Valley Marketplace. Perfect location at Oracle & Tangerine roads directly across from Catalina State Park.

Catalina State Park offers a main water supply, restroom facilities and a dump station, but they charge a fee.

At the OV Marketplace, there is no fee, and on site is a 24/7 Walmart featuring all kinds of cheap Chinese imports, restrooms, food and dumpsters..

So--- bring your RVs, bring your campers, bring your friends & family,with FREE OVERNIGHT PARKING at the OV Marketplace.

And remember, the Oro Valley police don't seem to mind if you park your RVs and campers overnight.

So---Come to Oro Valley and enjoy the good life of camping.

cyclone1 said...

Once again, I know I am going to get blasted for this, but are these campers there overnight? The video doesn't appear to be taken at night time, and I have no way of knowing how long they have been there in the first place? I am not challenging the veracity of the videographer, but....???? IF there are RV's there overnight, it's prohibited by the development approvals so it needs to be brought the Zoning's attention, as well as Vestar's probably.

AzVicki said...

I'm with Cyclone1.

artmarth said...

Regardless of what some others may think, our neighbor "John," who did the video and sent it on to the appropriate people at town hall, deserves credit for initiating this action.

Credit should also go to the Vestar Property Manager as per his response (below) to Oro Valley.

Here's the emails.

John, please see note below in response to Zoning Enforcement staff’s notification to Vestar management. I am pleased with their prompt response and know that you will help us keep them in line with the rules. Please contact me, or Dee Widero directly with any additional information you may have. Thanks, Sarah More



Good morning Patty,
I received the video yesterday illustrating the concerns of the overnight parking at the Wal-Mart, and have already taken action to curtail this activity. The signs have been ordered and I will be at the center on Wednesday to identify locations that need posting. I have also instructed our maintenance team to be proactive in notifying potential overnighters that they will be in violation of the town's ordinance, and that if they attempt to overnight the police will be called to criminally trespass them. I will also be delivering a letter to Wal-Mart notifying them of the above action by the center and that they should NOT encourage overnight camping, and ask that they utilize their security to assist with keeping overnighters off the property. Thank you for your patience while we correct this issue.

Brent Meszaros, CPM®
Property Manager
Vestar Property Management
2425 E. Camelback Road, Suite 750
Phoenix, AZ 85016

artmarth said...

For the benefit of "Cyclone1" & Az Vicki,and any other doubters, our friend & neighbor "John" just sent the following email to Sarah More. OV Planing Director, along with a substantiated NIGHT VIDEO.
John's message:

Sarah,
Thanks for the up-date! The attached is the data from this evening, March 10th, 2009. Hurry-up they are multiplying… Seven (7) campers tonight…
Thanks,
John

mscoyote said...

Why would anybody in OV believe Vestar or Wal Mart?
Did they promise us upscale shopping or was it upscale parking? :))