Vistoso Trails Apartments To Proceed Despite Residents' Opposition

Fate Sealed Long Ago

In 2022, the town negotiated a deal to transform the former Vistoso Golf course into open space. In the process, then-town manager Mary Jacobs and Town Council Attorney Jonathan Rothschild negotiated a “settlement agreement” that would result in apartments being built on a small portion of that land. They argued that such an agreement was necessary for the 202 acres of open space to become a reality.

Resident opposition fails

The council approved the settlement agreement in a 2021 Executive Session. Residents were never informed of the deal. Two years later, just last week, many residents attended a public hearing. They voiced unanimous opposition to the apartments. With one council member's exception, their pleas were ignored. Apartments will be built.

Residents who live near the Vistoso Trails Reserve are "Collateral Damage"

As Oro Valley resident Chuck Davis noted at the meeting: "Almost everybody won… everybody except for the three or four hundred residents within about 500 feet of this property. We are the collateral damage.”  Indeed, Davis is right.  Former town manager Mary Jacobs and Town Council Attorney Jonathan Rothschild negotiated the deal on the Preserve. Their interests were not represented. 

The problem was that the deal to create the Reserve was complicated

There was urgency to get it done because there were lots of moving parts: Preserve Vistoso fundraising for the purchase, a town financial contribution for the purchase, the involvement of developer to assume ownership of the six acres under discussion, and the need to retain the interest and commitment of The Conservation Fund. 

and needed be be acted upon quickly

There was also urgency spurned on by the continuing possibility of large scale development of the entire former golf course. According to resident Rosa Daley, writing in LOVE: “When the over 200 acres of the closed Vistoso golf course drew developers like flies, the Winfield administration was able to swat them away and serve the residents who deserved to have the land remain recreational.” 

And that resident dissatisfaction was inevitable

The Council saw the agreement in a December 2021 Executive Session. They were given little time to assess it. Speaking to the residents at last week's meeting, Council Member Tim Bohen said that resident disapproval of the apartments was an inevitable consequence of the agreement. Regarding the negotiations:  Council members "...were never in the room. We were brought proposals and asked to vote in a majority for it." Our guess is that the council was told that this was the best deal for all.  And they bit.

Regarding the apartments, town staff interpretations rule

Bohen shares resident frustration that their pleas would go unheeded. "We represent you," he noted "but so much of what impacts you is decided by town administrator rulings that we have no control over. This might be a bitter experience, but hopefully, you'll gain a better understanding of how your town government truly operates. The town’s administrators wield a significant amount of authority, and it's not unwarranted for you to question how they employ it.”

In the End… Zoning rights trump the General Plan

There will be 132 apartments built on 8.7 acres,  The approval for these was a complicated deal last week, requiring four motions. Only Councilmember Tim Bohen voted against it. Council approval was inevitable.  The landowner is entitled to build apartments on over six acres due to the property's zoning as high density residential. According to town staff, no other document, not even the 2016 general plan's land designation of the property as medium-density residential, holds precedence. As town Planning Director and Town Engineer Bayer Vella noted in the meeting: The General Plan “…cannot and does not override a zoning right. The zoning right is high density. That can't be swept aside.”

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Neighborhood Meeting On Vistoso Highlands Apartments Tomorrow Night

Vistoso Highlands apartment plans up for your review

Tomorrow night, the town will host a neighborhood meeting on the Vistoso Highlands apartment project. (Read: Rulney Magic for backgound). That project proposes buildings which will house 132 total apartments.The six acre site is a small portion of what was once the Vistoso Highlands Golf Course.

Small portion of land is requested for rezoning

Most of the land included in the project is zoned for that purpose. However, there is a small portion, .7 acres, that needs to be rezoned to accommodate parking. That will require the approval of Town Council. In addition, the site plan contains some elements that involve exercising easement rights between the town and the developer.

More than rezoning to be discussed

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the rezoning, review the conceptual site plan, and to learn of changes the developer proposes since the first meeting last May. That meeting occurred before the developer had submitted a formal proposal. It was a rather long, contentious meeting. As one of our readers wrote us: “The meeting descended into chaos pretty quickly. There were a large number of folks who thought they were lied to about the apartments probably because when [the organization] Preserve Vistoso was raising money they said that what would build on the 6.3 would be "like" the golf casitas, meaning in height and styling. It got people confused in thinking they would be condos.” They were wrong: It was always going to be apartments.

Some changes from what was presented at the last neighborhood meeting

Hopefully tomorrow's neighborhood meeting will be more orderly and on “OnPoint”, because there are some important things to discuss. First, of course, is the rezoning. It is proposed that the .7 acres be rezoned so that it can be used for parking. Second is the conceptua site plan (see panel) and the details that surround that. There are eight buildings with parking around the back four buildings. This is essentially what was presented previously. However, what is missing from last time is a Clubhouse and the Pool recreation area. That area IS now parking.

All of this and more will be covered at the meeting. If you live in the area, and even if you don't, this is your chance to get involved. The meeting is a 6pm in Oro Valley Town Council Chambers.

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Bits and Pieces

Rulney is a magician.. turns six acres into eight acres for Vistoso Trails apartment project

Developer Ross Rulney was one of the participants in making the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve a reality. As part of the final deal between the Town of Oro Valley, The Conservation Fund, and golf course owner Romspen,  Rulney bought 6 acres of high density residential zone land from Romspen. The plan is to develop 132 two-story apartments on that lot.

Since that transaction, Rulney purchased a 3/4 acres sliver that is zoned open space from a private seller. We have been told that he is planning to move his project's clubhouse and pool onto that sliver, so he can put even more residential on the six acres. The Town Council will be involved in order to make Rulney's plan a reality because the sliver must be rezoned from open space to recreational open space. 

But wait. There is more.

As part of the original purchase,  Rulney negotiated a 1.5 acre easement on land adjacent to his property (See panel right). That easement gives him the right to use that land "...for any use related to retention, drainage, parking, open space/passive recreation, or utilities in connection with the development of 132 two-story apartment units on the OV 132 Property, and for landscaping, and other reasonable site zoning relief necessary to construct up to 132 two-story apartment units on the OV 132 Property." (Source: "Rulney Easement Agreement")

Rulney is a magician. He turned a six acre project into an eight acre project!

The project as currently envisioned appears in the panel left. Now is the time to get involved. Attend the first neighborhood meeting on May 15 at 6pm in Town Council Chambers. 

Watch a video about the project.

Town Court has accomplished much since Hazel's appointment

Since joining the town two years ago, Judge James Hazel has initiated a number of changes. Here is a list of a few: 

• Court staff scanned all case files and converted the court to a paperless environment where digital files are properly stored, managed and easily accessed. 
• Worked with the Prosecutor’s Office to resolve hundreds of open and outstanding cases and now carefully monitor cases to ensure strict compliance with the AZ Supreme Court time standards expectations.
• Restructured the arraignment hearing process to be a meaningful event—so that multiple appearances are not necessary on every case. This reduces the number of times the prosecutor and defense attorneys have to appear
• Worked with OVPD to set a standard schedule for civil traffic appearances. Now, every person is able to see the judge at their first appearance and have their options explained to them.
• Worked with OVPD to install a digital fingerprint machine so that all criminal prints are immediately transmitted to AZ DPS. Previously, ink prints had to be sent via mail and the process took many weeks
• Developed a Compliance and Probation program to monitor defendants and hold them accountable for terms of sentencing.

As reported last week, the court has proposed a two year project to update the town court facility. That project will be heard by council in the coming weeks.

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Romspen received $4.25 million for the former Vistoso Golf Course

The beginning of a 202 acre preserve

Friday’s announcement by The Conservation Fund that they purchased the former Vistoso Golf course was fantastic news for the community. It marked the end of a long and difficult negotiation with the property owner. More importantly, however, it marks the beginning of a 202 acre nature preserve for everyone in the community to enjoy.

We plan to tell the story of how this all came about. It is indeed a very complicated story.

Today, we start our story with the result: The settlement agreement that was signed for the purchase of the property.

Resulted from a deal that required a “settlement agreement”
“A settlement agreement is a legal contract that resolves the disputes among all parties by coming to an agreement. It is a legal document where all parties in a court case, in civil law, agree to an outcome of any judgment being made in advance.” (https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/what-is-a-settlement-agreement.html). When it comes to the Vistoso Golf Course, there are many issues that needed to be resolved. The most important of which was what development was going to be allowed on the property. There is after all a 6+ acre parcel that is already zoned for apartments. Then there is the 202 acre golf course including a clubhouse that could have been potentially used for a variety of purposes. The settlement agreement states exactly how all of this was resolved.

The deal has six key elements

• 202 acres will be a permanent nature preserve.That is the golf courses.
• 6+ acres, the clubhouse area, will house proximally 132 apartments
• The apartments will be no higher than two stories. The property is zoned for up to a three-story apartment building.
• A small portion, roughly 1 acre, adjacent to the the 6+ acres will be available for use for parking for the apartments.
• No county recapture of property taxes will be incurred by any party as a result of the sale.
  
• Romspen will receive funds as detailed in the panel at right

There are four participants in the deal
Romspen (Vistoso) LLC

Romspen LLC is the owner of the property. They purchased it in 2012 in a bankruptcy proceeding. They operated the golf course until 2016. They shut it down and proceeded to spend the next five years concocting various ways to parse the property for development. They received $4.25 million for their effort.
Ross Rulney

Ross Rulney is a Tucson based developer. He developed "El Corredor" which is located at Oracle and Linda Vista. It is a mixed-use development. Rulney took over that property from a company that was trying to build a motel there. They went out of business.  Rulney is going to build the apartments.. He paid $1.75 million to buy the property. 

The Conservation Fund 

The Conservation Fund ("TCF") is the entity that now owns a golf course. They will be donating it to the town once they find a conservator to manage the settlement agreement such that nothing other than a natural preserve will ever exist on the property. Through the efforts of the residents, TCF raised donations sufficient to pay Romspen $1.615 million. That was the appraised value of the land.

Town of Oro Valley

The town of Oro Valley is the fourth participant in the transaction. The town agreed to pay $885,000 to settle all remaining “disagreements.”  This resolved a "legal dispute."

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Want to learn more? Read the Settlement Agreement here.