About 100 residents attended the second of two "Neighborhood Meetings" regarding the Beztak's General Plan Amendment Request for rezoning the Ford Property. The request is rezone this property from business commercial office to multi-family residential.
Also in attendance were Council Persons Hornat, Waters, Solomon and Gillaspie. Planning and Zoning Commissioner Don Cox also attended.
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The purpose of this meeting was to inform residents of the Neighboring community regarding the request. It was not to discuss the specifics of the proposed project since there is no decision to be made on the project itself. It was not to discuss the specific zoning of the property.
The decision is whether the Town of Oro Valley should amend its General Plan to allow this apartment use.
The residents asked many pointed questions. One even presented their own Traffic Study of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, many of the questions related to the project itself, which may or may not be the project that is actually proposed once an amendment is approved. In other words, the Developer could propose a 300 unit 34' Tall three-story apartment complex. Yes. The town could refuse this but Beztak, with is history of suing the Town of Oro Valley to get its way, may not stop at "No".
The time to stop this nonsense is now.
Focusing on the General Plan, I asked the Developer on what basis they felt that the Town should break its promise to the citizens of Oro Valley regarding the use of this property. The general plan was a document that was created with much citizen input, after years of discussion. It was voted upon by the citizens of Oro Valley. Therefore, any change should be for exceptional, compelling reasons.
The response I received was that "times have changed".
Our our response is: Hogwash. There is no compelling reason for the Town of Oro Valley to amend its General Plan to accommodate the wishes of a developer
The general plan is a governing document of our vision of a community of excellence, not one of mediocrity. The goal of setting this land aside for commercial office was to attract high paying jobs to Oro Valley so that Oro Valley would not simply be a bedroom community of Marana and Tucson.
Land used for this high-density residential purpose will forever take this land out of service. This land is ideally situated in the hear to the planned Oro Valley non retail business area. Yes. Times have changed; but the economy will improve. Businesses will expand.
Our Council would best serve the citizens of Oro Valley by helping the town attract these high quality businesses.
Let us not forget our promise to our citizens and abide by the vote of the people.
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