If you live near or around the Kai property then you are in the heart of a brewing tempest. If you live close to in, in areas such as Catalina Shadows, Catalina Shadow Estates and Palisades Point, then you are in for a treat. This conclusion reached based on our interviews of those who attended a neighborhood meeting last week. Attendees heard and provided comment on a "zoning request" for the Kai Property, which sits as prime real estate off of First Avenue. |
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We think that this change requires a change in the property's 2005 General Plan designated "land use;" and a zoning change from low density residential to medium density residential.
However, town staff and the developer don't agree. They think that this is not a land use change. It is nothing more than a zoning change, requiring a simple majority approval by council. We've commented on this. ( (Kai Property: Here We Go Again).
We think that a "legal" determination needs to be made on the meaning of the key words in the 2005 general plan in relation to the Kai property. The word is "overall". We believe that, in 2005, one unit per acre was agreed to be the residential density of the entire residential portion of the property. Town staff is interpreting the term to mean an average density over the entire property.
Residents attending last week's neighborhood had other concerns:
- Habitat Destruction of Eagles Nests: Apparently there are an number of eagles' nests on the property that would be disturbed by any construction.
- Road way exit for the property would only be onto Palisades, creating significant additional traffic. This will also create, they allege, safety hazard for walkers on Palisades and a challenge for school bus stops.
- 195 new homes will add children to, what are likely to be, overcrowded schools in Oro Valley given all the other construction taking place.
We are hopeful that town staff will hold another neighborhood meeting. If not, the next time the public will have an opportunity to opine on this, other than here, will be at the first of two required Planning and Zoning Commission hearings.
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“Conditions have changed.” That is the standard reason the WLB Group gives for the numerous zoning changes they have requested and received from the Town. Staff, P&Z, and Council seldom question WLB’s reasons. They seldom, if ever, suggest that current conditions do not guarantee the existing zoning will not be required in the future.
Staff, P&Z and Council base their decisions on short-term thinking, which rewards developers and builders. This is not always best long term for the Town. Nor do they govern with consideration for the long-term residential land-density policies in the General Plan.
The developers, Staff, and Council told the residents high-quality apartments, with higher rental rates, were needed at Steam Pump Ranch. A major reason cited for these apartments was to have transition housing for all the highly-paid individuals who will be hired to support the growing high-tech industries in Oro Valley. However, what happens when these individuals transition from apartments to single-family homes. At the current rate of rezoning from 1-acre lots to medium-density and medium to high-density lots, there will be limited open land for the building of homes that will satisfy the requirements of this new group of Oro Valley job holders. They will have to look outside of the Town to find the type of single-family residences with lot sizes that meets their requirements.
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