Bits and Pieces

Caton appointed Scottsdale Assistant City Manager

Greg Caton has been appointed as Assistant City Manager in Scottsdale. He was Oro Valley Town Manager from July 2011 to 2016. Caton was an Assistant Town Manager for one year prior to that.

Since leaving Oro Valley, Caton served as the City Manager in Grand Junction and as the Assistant City Manager for the City of Durango. 

Caton holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Fort Lewis College in Durango and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. His appointment was announced by Scottsdale City Manager Jim Thompson on February 14. He will start May 6.

Oro Valley has 12% of remaining land awaiting development

Earlier this month, town planner Milini Simms briefed the Oro Valley Planning and Zoning Commission on the status of the town's land use. Land use is an important feature of the general plan. Simms noted that there's approximately 12% of Oro Valley's land that is yet to be developed. Half of the land has already been planned, while the other half has not. Existing zoning on the available land will allow for about 1,400 single-family residential units and 1,600 multifamily residential units. In other words, Oro Valley is going to continue to grow.

Town plans temporary closures as Naranja Park nears completion

As the Naranja Park Expansion Project nears completion, the Town of Oro Valley provides this update on the progress of this transformative effort.

• March 4-5: Naranja Park will be completely closed to widen and pave the park’s main intersection. 
• Starting March 4: The park’s south entrance at Naranja Drive will be closed for 4-6 weeks for Musette Drive bridge and storm drain work. Access to the Archery Range will still be available. 
• March 6: The park’s new north entrance at Tangerine Road opens, becoming the sole access point through mid-April. 
• March 6 through mid-April: The northern entrance will be the exclusive access point to Naranja Park during this period. The southern entrance will re-open in mid-April.

These temporary closures are crucial to completing the Naranja Park Expansion successfully, adhering to schedule and budget, as the Town strives to deliver an enhanced park experience for the community. (Source: Town of Oro Valley Media Release)

Take the OVPathForward Community Survey Today and get involved in future events

OVPathforward is conducting an online survey on life in Oro Valley. "The BIG Community Survey includes questions about public safety, traffic, development, views, and more" Here's the link.  In addition, you can meet with the OVPathforward team and share you thoughts on the following dates and locations:

• February 25 - Oracle Crossings Plaza (near Sprouts) from 12PM - 2 PM 
• February 27 - Noble Hops from 11AM - 2PM 
• February 28 - Copper Creek HOA at 7PM 
• March 2 - Farmers Market at Steam Pump Ranch from 9AM - 1PM 
• March 9 - Plaza Escondida (near Trader Joes) from 12PM - 2PM

There's ample opportunity to get involved. So do take advantage of that. (Source: OVPathfoward email)

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Oro Valley's Four Phases of Residential Home Growth

 Click on the graphic to enlarge

Oro Valley Is Not Approaching "Buildout"

There has been for some time now the idea floated by town staff that Oro Valley is approaching "buildout." It is often referred to as some "dreaded event"; as if something dreadful will happen if the town stops growing. Understanding this, town council defined a strategic objective last February to "Develop a buildout analysis that projects short and long-term impacts to Town service levels and provides potential mitigation options." According to Town Manager Jacobs, that analysis will not be available until the winter of 2023.

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"Buildout" is a vague term

The town has not defined what it means when it says that Oro Valley is approaching buildout. We say this because the town has 20,300 acres of buildable land of its 27,000 acre size. As of last April, 10,900 acres were "built-out". 10,400 acres were "Vacant". That's 20,300 acres of buildable land. 

Certainly, a town that has almost half of its available building land designated as "vacant" is not approaching any building saturation point.  So, to what is the town referring when it says that Oro Valley is approaching buildout?

It is unplanned vacant land to which the town refers when it says that Oro Valley is reaching buildout...but that is is only 15% of total vacant land available for growth

85% of the 10,400 acres of vacant land have an approved plat or development plan. The remaining vacant land is designated by the town as "unplanned."  This land  is mostly located the periphery of the town [see panel]. 

We think that it is this land, the vacant "unplanned land," to which the town is referring with it says that town is reaching “buildout.” 

That is an unfair definition because it fails to recognize that other other 8.900 acres are either being built or will be built also.

Permitting activity remains strong... Lots of construction remains

By no means is the town approaching "buildout." Construction remains strong in Oro Valley and it will be such for along time. In November, for example,  "220 total permits were issued . . . compared to 160 permits issued in October. Year-to-date, 2,380 total permits have been issued since the beginning of the year compared to 2,290 issued during the same period in 2020." (Source: Town Manager Executive Report To Council, December 2021)

Town annexation strategy would increase available land for homes via the "Tangerine 880"

The town's annexation strategy will increase land for growth. The major source of a near team increase land for homes is the 880 acres of state land ("Tangerine South"and "Tangerine North"). That is a "near term target". This land is located on the Northwest tip of Oro Valley. It would extend Oro Valley's reach to Thornydale. 

The town vetted the Tangerine North annexation to the community in 2017-2018. It was met with resident opposition. Read one report on this here. Both the North and South Tangerine annexations remains open. If not heard by this council, it will certainly be heard by the next council.

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Addendum to Wednesday’s article, “Eliminate and ignore citizen participation…It’s in our nature.”

After studying the resolution in the June 7th council packet regarding the agenda item, “Consolidate the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Conceptual Design Review Board” it appears that:

The 7-member Conceptual Design Review Board (CDRB) is going to be abolished and the Arts Review Commission is going to take its place.

The responsibilities of the Planning and Zoning Commission will be markedly different, as follows:

(1) They will no longer coordinate the development review of Town land use plans. (No more citizen oversight).

(2) They will no longer be responsible for maintaining the adopted General Plan criteria. (No more citizen oversight to make sure that developments are consistent with the General Plan prior to going to Council for a vote).

(3) They will no longer consider all conditions listed as requirements in the Oro Valley Zoning Code for a given conditional use permit (CUP). They will no longer provide recommendations to the Town Council on proposed rezonings or conditional use permits. (No more citizen input on rezonings or CUP’s prior to going to Council for a vote).

(4) Their focus will no longer be limited primarily to land use issues, but will now include “detailed design consideration.” This task was previously performed by the 7-member CDRB.

It appears that most developer activity will now go directly to the Town Council with no citizen review or input beforehand.