Guest View: Mike Zinkin – What Happened to the Founders’ Vision?

The Founders' Vision has been lost over the past 12 years
The reason the people incorporated Oro Valley was because they did not want to be governed by Tucson or Pima County. They wanted to protect the views, avoid traffic and pollution problems, prevent congested development, and preserve the small town feel. However, this has all but become history.

Look at how much has changed regarding allowances for developers and business establishments
We now have a 7-story retirement community under construction, a plot of land (the Marketplace) that will soon have numerous hotels and apartments, we have pre-graded lots that will be “shovel ready,” and a Council majority that doesn’t appear to adequately study the issues and simply follows staff desires, thereby disregarding the people’s wishes.

I was on the Developmental Review Board when we refused to allow In and Out Burger to have their crossed palm trees (the Council supported our decision). We did not allow the Target store to have a red “Target” sign (their trademark target could be red, but the store name had to fit the color palette of the shopping center). The blue wedge in the Best Buy store was reduced in size. There were no flashing signs allowed in store windows. A lighted sign could say ”Open” but it could not flash. A-frame signs were not allowed.

Look at how much has changed within the town council
The Vice-Mayor position used to be a ceremonial role that rotated among the existing council members. Now the Vice-Mayor serves a 4 year term that does nothing in my opinion but fulfill the ego of the individual.

We used to have Council on Your Corner meetings which allowed for two-way communication between the public and the council, instead of the council hiding behind the dais and limiting public speaking time to 3 minutes with no interaction. I remember having these meetings during the budget process to gauge the desires of the people. It now seems that the Council does not put forth any effort on the budget. They simply give staff what they want.

The Council used to care and consider the results of valid surveys. They used to ask questions of staff during budget study sessions, rather than being lectured by staff about their wishes. The Aquatic Center was a result of this belief, not splash pads and BMX tracks, which have very little constituent support.

The current Council liaison to the Amphi School Dist. does not fulfill the responsibilities put forth in Town Policy 9. When I brought this to the attention of the Councilmember, the response was, “I have not nor plan to ignore my responsibilities as Amphi Liaison. Covid has redefined this responsibility and relationship. I am requesting that the policy reflect those changes. I continue to receive and review the monthly agenda for both the Executive and General Meeting and attend as needed.” However, there has been no change to the current policy.

The Vice-Mayor voted no on an allocation of funds to support the State mandated General Fund. She said she was a “protector of the People’s money” yet insisted on a Splash Pad at Naranja Park.

Town leaders don’t seem to care about the Town’s waste of water
The Mayor refuses to realize there is a water problem in Oro Valley, as well as the Nation. Not one penny in the FY 2023/24 recommended budget is allocated to reducing the Town’s wasteful use of potable water on it properties (such as James Kriegh and Riverfront parks and the Pusch Ridge golf course.)

Major agreements with developers are not disclosed to the public
Some of you may criticize me regarding the El Con golf courses purchase in 2014, however, remember that it was a 4-3 vote. Now we have mostly 7-0 votes. The re-elected majority usually votes as a block. They allowed the former Town Manager to spend money without Council authority, as well as enter into agreements without Council oversight. There is an Economic Development Agreement with Town West that has never been made public and there is a lack of transparency. Agreements made with the developer of the high-density development in the Vistoso Preserve were also never disclosed to the public.

We’re heading in the wrong direction
Oro Valley government used to care about views, traffic, the environment, and appropriate use of monies. Now we are no different than Tucson and Marana.

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Mike Zinkin and his wife have lived in Oro Valley since 1998. He served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009, the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012, and the Town Council from 2012-2016. He was named a Fellow for the National League of Cities. He was a member of the NLC Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. Mike has a Bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from California State University, Northridge.

Guest View: Diane Peters ~ Oro Valley Marketplace, Ten years later: Was it a success or just a lot of hype?

After 10 long years, the contentious sales tax sharing agreement between the Town of Oro Valley and Vestar has come to an end.

History of the deal
For those who are new to Oro Valley or those who need a refresher, back in 2004, the Town of Oro Valley entered into a controversial Economic Development Agreement (EDA) with Vestar. The EDA involved the Town receiving 55% of the sales tax revenues from the proposed Oro Valley Marketplace and Vestar receiving 45% of the revenues for the first 10 years of operations or until Vestar had collected $23.2 million dollars, whichever came first.

It was controversial because many Oro Valley residents did not feel that Vestar needed a tax incentive to build a mall on a major arterial road. Vestar also promised that they would provide “an extraordinary shopping experience” with “signature shops” and “unique stores.” However, many citizens did not trust Vestar because their development history revealed that they were in the business of building Anywhere USA malls with Wal-Mart as the anchor store.

Two citizens’ groups were formed
As a result, two citizen groups were formed to try to stop this deal. Those groups were SOVOG (Stop Oro Valley Outrageous Giveaways) and Oro Valley 1st. Although both groups received a lot of traction with the citizens and in the press, unfortunately, they were no match against Vestar’s well-funded and relentless media blitz (including multiple full-color postcards and even a DVD that was sent to every home in Oro Valley) extolling the “virtues” of the wonderful mall that they were going to build for us in exchange for giving them nearly half of our sales tax revenue.

Although SOVOG was successful in taking this to a vote of the citizens via a referendum in March 2006, sadly 58% of the voters approved it and 42% voted against. Vestar’s big money and media blitz won with a 16% margin. The movie theater was most likely what sealed the deal as Oro Valley residents (especially in Rancho Vistoso) previously had to drive a long distance to the nearest movie theater at Foothills Mall.

The predictions of SOVOG and OV 1st came true
Then, just as the two citizens’ groups predicted, Vestar delivered a sea of discount chain stores with Wal-Mart as the anchor. The Wal-Mart anchor was announced by Vestar in early 2007. The mall opened in October 2008. It’s now ten years later, and we never got the signature shops, the unique stores, or the extraordinary shopping experience that Vestar promised.

Ten years later - Projections vs. Actuals
A Public Records Request has revealed that the actual sales tax revenues over the 10-year period of the agreement were less than anticipated. Below is a chart showing the projected sales tax revenues vs. the actual sales tax revenues that were collected from OV Marketplace.

The sales tax revenue projections were provided by Vestar. The sales tax sharing began when OVM opened in October 2008 and ended in December 2018.

Fiscal Year                Projected                       Actuals

2008-09                      $1,484,000                     $863,640
2009-10                      $1,573,040                  $1,386,493
2010-11                      $1,667,422                  $1,575,200
2011-12                      $1,767,468                  $1,620,162
2012-13                      $1,873,516                  $1,700,771
2013-14                      $1,929,721                  $1,706,007
2014-15                      $1,987,613                  $1,732,324
2015-16                      $2,047,241                  $1,601,257
2016-17                      $2,108,659                  $1,645,238
2017-18                      $2,171,918                  $1,696,601
2018 thru Dec.            $1,118,538*                    $842,257

10 Year Total             $19,729,136               $16,369,950

* Vestar projected sales tax revenues of $2,237,076 for the entire FY July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019. However, since the sales tax sharing ended in December 2018 (six months into the fiscal year) I cut their projection in half to cover one-half of the fiscal year. ($2,237,076 divided by 2 = $1,118,538)

Their biggest miscalculation was in the first year when the projections were off by $620,000. Over the 10-year period, Vestar’s sales tax projections were off by an average of $300,000 per year.

The 45-55 split
The town received 55% of the sales tax revenues for a total of $8,994,795.

Vestar received 45% of the sales tax revenues for a total of $7,375,154 which is less than one-third of the $23.2 million dollars that Vestar was anticipating.

Empty storefronts
In July 2017, I counted 22 empty storefronts at Oro Valley Marketplace.

Two years later, in May 2019, I counted 23 empty storefronts. According to the OVM website, in July 2019, there were 22 opened businesses including 9 retail stores, 5 restaurants, 6 services, 1 jiu jitsu, and the movie theater.

A brilliant collection of Anywhere USA stores
Their website claims that,

“Oro Valley Marketplace has amassed a brilliant collection of boutiques, national anchors, unique eateries, and traditional restaurants.”

Below are the 9 retail stores.  I admit to shopping at World Market because they carry many unique items.  I also shop at Ulta because they carry some of the higher quality items that I prefer.  Nevertheless, the question remains...

Do you see “a brilliant collection of boutiques” in this list?

Best Buy - Big Lots - DSW Shoe Warehouse - GNC Vitamins - Petco
Tuesday Morning - Ulta - Walmart - World Market

Below are the 5 restaurants. Do you see any unique eateries in this list? I see a collection of chain restaurants and one locally-owned Mexican restaurant. A Mexican restaurant in the Southwest can hardly be called “unique.”

In-N-Out Burger - Olive Garden -  Red Lobster
San Carlos Grill -  The Keg Steakhouse

What does the future hold?
At the November 15, 2016 Planning and Zoning Study Session, Nancy McClure, First Vice President of CBRE, made the following comment about OV Marketplace.

“I'm sure some of you know that that property went out to the open market to be sold as an investment. They had no buyers. Vestar would love to sell it but a lot of the buyers called me because they want to find out what’s going on, how are they doing, why hasn’t it sold. Part of the problem with this project is that they’re not doing great numbers in there, they’re not selling enough. The movie theater does 30% less than the national average for movie theaters. Dick’s Sporting Goods numbers are really bad. [Dick’s has since closed.] The more of that story that gets out, it’s going to be really difficult to fill those spaces.”

According to the CBRE website, Ms. McClure “specializes in representing local and national retailers in their expansion pursuits across the Tucson area” and “to work with property owners to enhance value through leasing to quality tenants and to position centers for sale in the investment arena.”

Today’s Lesson
Oro Valley Marketplace was a grossly oversold enterprise from the beginning.  Additionally, no matter how well-intentioned, government usually cannot create, even through incentives, successful private sector projects. If a project requires government help in order to be successful, then the project will likely not meet expectations because it was not, in and of itself, sufficiently able to stand on its own.
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Diane Peters has lived in Oro Valley since 2003, moving here to escape the humidity of the East Coast. She’s been involved in OV politics and development issues since 2006. In 2014, she organized a citizens group, Citizen Advocates of the Oro Valley General Plan, who over a 9-month period, successfully negotiated a controversial 200-acre development project. In her past life, she worked in medical research at various University Hospitals in New England. Her interests include reading, writing, nature photography, travel, art galleries, museums, and politics.