Council Steps In: New Attorney Hiring Rules, No Go for Surf-Thru Art

Council acts on two fronts

At last week’s meeting, the Oro Valley Town Council made two decisions that clarify its role in town oversight, one involving how the next town attorney will be hired, and the other affirming the Town’s long-standing rules on public art. Here’s what happened.

Ratifies staff decision: No “Surfboard Art” for Surf-Thru Car Wash
The Council also affirmed a staff decision regarding the public art proposed for the Surf Thru Express Car Wash at the Oro Valley Marketplace. The car wash is under construction and expected to open next spring or summer; however, it cannot receive a certificate of occupancy until its required artwork is approved.

Town staff explained that the proposed artwork [Panel right] did not meet two requirements of the 2007 public art code. One issue, the color of the art, is something the applicant agreed to change. The second issue is more significant. The code prohibits artwork that includes advertising elements, including colors, graphics, logos, or other representations of corporate identity. Staff determined that the proposed panel was advertising, and the Council agreed.

This code requirement may explain why the two large spheres in front of Target are not painted red like those at other Target stores; painting them red would likely be considered advertising under the same rule.

The developer will need to submit a revised concept. 

The broader question remains: Should the 2007 public art agreement between the town and then property owner Vestar be updated given that the Marketplace has a different owner that is transforming it to the Oro Valley Village Center.

 
Takes charge of town attorney hiring process
The Town is in the process of filling the town attorney position. The attorney reports directly to the Town Council. When the Council first authorized the hiring, it agreed to use the same process that had been used to hire Town Manager Jeff Wilkins.

In hiring Wilkins, the Town used a three layered interview process in which executive staff and a community panel provided impressions and recommendations to the Town Council, though the Council retained final decision authority. While the Council ultimately selected Wilkins, word later circulated that he was not the candidate preferred by the non council interview groups. The process was intended to be advisory; however, it created public confusion about who had truly chosen the finalist.

At last week’s meeting, the Council unanimously revised course. Although an earlier motion had inadvertently directed the use of the same three layered approach for hiring the new town attorney, the Council chose a different path. Members agreed to conduct the first round of interviews themselves to ensure what they described as an unbiased and independent evaluation.  Those interviews will take place in Executive Session this Thursday.There will be no community panel. 

Once the Council identifies finalists, a staff panel will conduct interviews and provide written summaries of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, without rankings or recommendations. That panel will include the Town Manager, the Human Resources Director, leadership from the Town Attorney’s Office, the Town Magistrate, the Chief of Police, and the Town Council’s outside attorney.

This revised process places the hiring decision directly and clearly with the Town Council.

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Guest View: Diane Peters - Town attempts to circumvent the Open Space requirement

The town of Oro Valley is considering transferring some town land to the new owner of OV Marketplace (Town West) in order for their development proposal to meet the open space requirement.

Is this what we’re going to do now? When an applicant’s plans do not meet open space requirements, we’ll just “gift” them some of the surrounding town or county land to make up for it? This is not the “open space” that Oro Valley residents envisioned when they approved the 2016 General Plan.

More for them, less for us
The town just keeps giving more and more to developers. As an example, when we moved here almost 20 years ago, washes/riparian lands were protected. You couldn't build in a wash...then suddenly developers were allowed to build in a wash. You couldn’t build into a hillside…and then you could. Five-story buildings were not allowed…and then they were.

Originally, developers had to meet open space requirements...now the town has apparently devised a way for them to circumvent that requirement as well. Every year it's a new "gift" to developers and wealthy land owners. It's like a death by a thousand cuts.

Town finally admits that Vestar hoodwinked them in 2006
During a presentation that Town Planner, Michael Spaeth gave to P&Z during a Study Session on December 14th he said, "Ultimately the Marketplace has too much supply and not enough people to support the center." This was the conclusion of a study that the town had recently done.

What does that tell you? It should tell everyone, including the town staff, the P&Z Commissioners, and the Town Council that the town was hoodwinked by Vestar back in 2006 into believing that we had the population to support their vision of Oro Valley Marketplace. After all, that’s what Vestar’s demographic and population studies showed. The town believed them and gave them a $23 million dollar tax “incentive.”

Is the latest proposal just another hoodwinking?
The 2006 Vestar hoodwinking should be a warning to the town that they need to stop bending over backwards to appease developers and wealthy land owners. They will always “sell” their proposals by telling you that their project is what’s best for the town, when the truth is that their project is what’s best for their bank accounts. Their job is to spin it into something that appears to be what’s best for the town. That’s what Vestar did and we now know that they lied, or at the very least, that their study results were faulty. So whether it’s deliberate lying or faulty study results, why should we believe any “studies” submitted by applicants?

My plea to the P&Z Commissioners
Please don’t continue to fall for developers’ sales pitches.  Our town “leaders” never learn and Oro Valley residents pay the price with destroyed views, traffic congestion, traffic noise, air pollution, etc. Does any of that sound like the “small town feel” that Oro Valley voters said they wanted? Was the 2016 General Plan just another hoodwinking?  The open space requirement is supposed to be on the parcel in question…not on the surrounding parcels.

Reminder: Oro Valley’s Vision for the Future, Page 8 of the 2016 General Plan
Preserve the scenic beauty and environment
• desert and mountain views
• desert climate and environment
• wildlife and vegetation
• open space

Keep the unique community identity as a special place
• small town neighborly feel
• nice place to live
• quiet, delightful, laid back, and peaceful
• friendly and neighborly people
• clean and well-kept
• forward thinking
• built environment sets OV apart

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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, including organizing a citizens group in 2014 that spent 9 months negotiating 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.

Guest View-Art Segal: A View of Oro Valley From A Distance

Art Segal was a LOVE Cofounder. He worked tirelessly on LOVE from 2007 until 2016.  LOVE is the product of many people. Not just me, the publisher. I want to recognize and thank them all.  LOVE really is: “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.

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Hi Everybody,

Hopefully, there are still some Oro Valley folks that may remember me. I'm Art Segal, a former resident who, along with my wife Martha, left our beautiful home in La Reserve to relocate to SW Florida in 2016. Time seems to go by so quickly, and we have vivid recollections of moving into our new home in Oro Valley in 1993. At the time, Oro Valley's population was approximately 14,000.

After 23 years of mostly good times, in July of 2016, we decided to leave our friends and acquaintances and the home we really loved. Some may ask, "if you loved the home and area so much, why would you leave?" That's certainly a fair question, and l'll try to answer it truthfully, and straight forward. It had nothing to do with the glorious weather, or the fact that the population grew to be in excess of 44,000.

What made us leave was seeing from a close up view what was happening to our community. I wasn't a "political person," but as a result of the local politics in Oro Valley, back around 2007 (if my memory is accurate), Richard Furash and I started a blog we called "The LOVE BLOG"-----an acronym for "Let Oro Valley Excel." Our sole purpose was to give a voice to the people of Oro Valley, as---- our opinion, the big developers and the elites were running the town----and getting away with it. We tried----mostly unsuccessfully to get candidates that were "people first" candidates elected as mayor and council members. Unfortunately, the big money financially supported "their" candidates, and for the most part, due to many uninformed folks that were apathetic, things kept getting worse.

Some of the examples that made our decision to leave were the subsidies given to the big developer out of Phoenix, Vestar to develop the prime land on the corner of Oracle Road and Tangerine. We understand that once the subsidies ended after 10 years Vestar sold the property that was to be a "unique and upscale" shopping center, to another big developer. The site hardly became what was promised, and what it will become next----I don't know. Another example of the big developers "running the show"-- that was the final negative for our community and for me, was the purchase by the then mayor and council of the El Conquistador golf courses and other amenities. I can't tell you how much that decision cost the Oro Valley tax payers, but it was excessive.

So, that's a relatively short history of why we no longer are a resident of such a beautiful location. Now, to the main point. I don't how many of the folks living in Oro Valley appreciate the time and effort that Richard Furash has given to the community for so many years. While I tried my best, but ultimately gave up, Dick has persevered and for the most part, has been a singular voice of reason in his attempt to Let Oro Valley Excel.

 There's still much to accomplish, but hopefully, enough Oro Valley residents will elect only those candidates that are for the people. Thank you Richard for your yeoman effort, that should make you very proud.

My best to you, your family and the residents of Oro Valley.

Art Segal

Guest View: Diane Peters ~ The Best Laid Plans?

During January 6th Public Hearing for the First and Tangerine General Plan Amendment (GPA) to allow multi-family residential zoning on a vacant commercial parcel, one resident (we’ll call him Mr. Double Standard) gave the following reasons for why the town council should approve the GPA. He said:

"I want to point out the fiscal benefits of this development. This is a fiscal no-brainer for the Town of Oro Valley: The construction sales tax, the residents supporting the water utility, the long-term sales tax benefits, the state-shared revenue.

I have said to many people that one of the reasons that Oro Valley Marketplace looks the way it does today...is the way this land looks right now. It's vacant. The land to the west of the marketplace is vacant. The land to the north of the marketplace is vacant. The land to the east of the marketplace is vacant. All of these have a very negative impact on Oro Valley Marketplace.

And as we look for that area of develop, this will be a great benefit. We've seen Big Lots close...Cost Plus...Dick's Sporting Goods. And you can relate that to the fact that the residential density close to the Oro Valley Marketplace is very low."

Let’s review his arguments.

Vacant land has a negative impact on business
Mr. Double Standard claims that the vacant land to the west, north, and east of Oro Valley Marketplace is the reason that The Marketplace never did well and is the reason that Big Lots, Cost Plus (World Market), and Dick’s Sporting Goods closed. Then why is the Wal-Mart at Oro Valley Marketplace still open when they have the same amount of nearby residents? Why did Sears at Tucson Mall close? They didn’t have enough nearby residents?

Vestar, the original developer and owner of Oro Valley Marketplace, had population and demographic studies done prior to pitching their Anywhere USA mall. They had the stats for how many people lived within X number of miles from that location and they projected that it would all work out beautifully – but now we are told that The Marketplace failed because they didn't have enough homes in that location.

Is Mr. Double Standard saying that Vestar's projections and population and demographic studies were wrong? Were they fabricated or slanted to show what Vestar needed them to show in order to get the town to sign on to the deal? If so, this might be a lesson not to trust the projections and population and demographic studies of other developers when they’re pitching their grandiose plans to the town.

Arguing with himself
When Vestar was pitching their mall, Mr. Double Standard was strongly in favor of it. He never spoke in opposition to it or claimed that it would fail because the land to the west, north, and east was vacant.

The pro-development crowd simply alters their arguments to suit their whims of the day. His current arguments are all just excuses to keep the Hiremath pro-growth agenda going.

Taxes and Water Utility Arguments
• The construction sales tax is not a recurring tax, it is a one-time tax.

• Stating that more residents will support the Oro Valley Water Utility overlooks the fact that Arizona is in an extreme drought, but yes, let’s keep bringing in more people to use more water.

In fact, according to the applicant’s (Paul Oland, Paradigm Land Design) GPA submittal narrative: “With a maximum of 167 housing units proposed, the maximum number of new residents expected to live onsite would be 392” and would “typically demand approximately 50,100 gallons of potable water per day.” Oland also admitted that keeping the existing C-1 zoning “would equate to a typical water demand of approximately 17,600 gallons per day.”

Mr. Double Standard said that approving the GPA was “a fiscal no-brainer.” One could argue that choosing to use 17,000 gallons of water a day vs. 50,000 gallons a day during a drought is an “environmental no-brainer.”

• Long-term sales tax benefits? That’s the same sales pitch we heard from Vestar when they were selling the town on the benefits of Oro Valley Marketplace, and yet half of the storefronts at OVM remained empty for the entire ten years that Vestar owned that mall (2008-2018).

What’s the perfect ratio?
So when does the growth end? What is the perfect ratio of businesses to population? Does anyone really know? Because no matter how many of each we have, I keep hearing that we need more people to support our businesses and we need more businesses to bring in sales tax dollars.

You know what else we need? We need open space (green space), healthy air, less traffic congestion, peace and quiet, and we need to protect the Sonoran desert and the wildlife who call it home.

Business saturation
I don’t recall any empty storefronts when I moved here in 2003. Our population has increased by approximately 15,000 since then, yet we now have an abundance of empty storefronts. This begs the question: Is increasing the population really the answer? Or do we have too many duplicate businesses? As an example, a quick internet search revealed approximately 20 nail salons in Oro Valley. How about three identical mattress stores at one intersection!  (One has since closed.  Gee, I wonder why).

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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, 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.

Oro Valley Marketplace: $45 Million Price Tag

Vestar exits...Town West Realty enters
In August, Phoenix based Vestar sold the Oro Valley Marketplace to Town West Realty of Tucson. The purchase price was $45 Million. That's $87/sqft for  518,000 square feet.

Town West is leasing the empty Dick's Sporting Goods location to Ashley Furniture . They are considering building a hotel and a complex to support it. We shall see what develops. Literally!

Tax subsidies don't work
It's not surprising to us that Vestar sold the property. The ten-year Oro Valley sales tax subsidy paid Vestar (equal to 45% of sales tax revenues generated by the Marketplace) expired last December. Without the subsidy, one granted and approved by the voters, the Oro Valley Marketplace was not economically sustainable.

Vestar promised us the world..and they gave us Walmart
Actually, Vestar also gave us, as promised, a movie theatre. Otherwise, none of the retail stores in the Oro Valley Marketplace match the "upscale shopping experience" that Vestar promised in the glossy postcards they sent to all. These were sent when residents were voting on what was called at that time: "The Outrageous Giveaway." You can search LOVE to learn the history.

In July, LOVE posted an analysis of the 10-year history of the Oro Valley Marketplace and its impact on our community. It is definitely worth reading.

Now, it is time to move on.

Good luck Town West. Your success is our success.
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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.

Guest View: Tim Bohen ~ The Real 5-Year Plan for the Community Center (Hint: It’s now a 25-Year Plan)

Note: The $6MM Community Center Bond approval is included in the Adoption of the Tentative Budget that the Town Council will be voting on at tonight’s Council meeting.

We have often heard from Town Council that we need to give the Oro Valley Community Center golf investment time to show that its financial viability is trending positively. This was a fair request since the golf purchase was truly a major undertaking. However, three years have now elapsed and time has revealed what the 5-year plan may have been all along.

Another victory for Humberto Lopez (HSL Properties) and golfers
At the end of next the fiscal year, the Town’s obligation to rebate Vestar 45% of the sales taxes collected at Oro Valley Marketplace will end. This information was provided by Town Manager, Mary Jacobs during the Town Council Budget Study Session on May 9th. When Vestar’s tax incentive ends, approximately $800K per year in sales tax revenue from OV Marketplace will now become available to support Town services. This should be great news. I’m sure we can all think of many community-wide uses for this new revenue stream. Perhaps we could use it to actually provide more ball fields or playground equipment for young families since that’s what residents have been requesting.

But wait. Later at the same May 9th budget review, a significant portion of these same revenues ($450-480K per year) was proposed to be effectively passed to HSL and our “Country Club” and fitness members as security for a 20-year bond to improve the Community Center and Golf Courses. And once again, ball fields and playgrounds take a back seat to golf.

The percentage of Oro Valley residents who have $20-$40 monthly fitness memberships is only approximately 3% of our population. And the number of users who visit this facility per day (about 320) is far less than 1% of our town population, as was cheerfully volunteered by Parks and Rec themselves at the same meeting. Do these 9,500 total visits per month in a town of 45,000 include out-of-town visitors from the resort who are coming to enjoy our sales tax subsidized golf?

Lipstick on a Sign
In essence, all the Town did was to cross out the “Country Club” sign in lipstick and write “Community Center” on the sign in the same lipstick and…well, it’s still a Country Club. It’s great that we have a day camp and fitness center members that enjoy the Community Center and make this portion viable. But this benefit clearly goes to relatively few as reported by Parks and Rec themselves. And frankly, this benefit has been, and will long continue to be, dwarfed by the golf losses borne by all.

All that has really changed at El Conquistador since 2014 is the sign out front, a new traffic light, and more importantly, who is now responsible for the long-term upkeep of the combined Community Center and El Conquistador Resort (HSL) golf asset. It’s we taxpayers who will now shoulder an ever increasing load of $3-4 million dollars per year for the next twenty years minimum (0.5% town-wide dedicated Community Center sales tax + 60% of the previously committed OV Marketplace sales tax to Vestar).

Fast Pitch
Our Community Center purchase agreement provides HSL with a 50-year (at $10K per year) Canada golf course improvements option to keep this one course open. Mayor Hiremath has stated that the signer of the purchase agreement, former Town Manager, Greg Caton, always seemed to “hit it out of the park.” It looks like this ball might come down some time around 2040 as far as loan payments, or 2065 as far as our lease with HSL. It’s a tape measure home run for HSL and the golfers either way. As for the vast majority of Oro Valley sales tax payers who don’t use the facility, let’s just say we’ll keep getting hit by the pitch.

Privatized Gains and Socialized Losses
So, upon learning this, how do we as a Town, in good conscience, choose to sink $6M minimum more into a 35-year old building and golf courses over the next three years? Our local economy includes flat golf revenues, rising local construction costs over the short term of this project, and potentially catastrophic decreases in CAP water for southern Arizona over the long term. Losing CAP water may shut all but the most financially healthy Tucson courses.

El Conquistador Country Club memberships are already well below where they need to be. This is maybe the only point everyone in Oro Valley can agree on. So, how exactly will three years of phased construction improve the membership rates? They won’t. Watch your Council brag about the great fiscal position of the Town resulting from their “skillful planning” and fiscal restraint and try to reconcile that with this long term decision. You can’t.

Guest View: Diane Peters ~ Oro Valley Town Council repeatedly gets Hoodwinked by “The Deal Makers.” Part 2.

This posting is Part 2 of our 2-part discussion of "The Deal Makers." We published Part 1 yesterday.

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Next hoodwinking scheduled for November 2017
Our Town Councils over the past 10 years have repeatedly shown that they are easily fooled and manipulated by “deal makers” and as a result, they have not been good stewards of your taxpayer dollars.

Timeline

2006: Oro Valley Marketplace was grossly oversold to the Town and the taxpayers as an upscale shopping experience. In return for sharing $23.2 million dollars in tax revenues with Vestar, we were promised a unique upscale mall with signature shops and boutiques. What did we get? A generic strip mall and discount big box stores.

2014: The Community Center and Golf Course deal was grossly oversold to the taxpayers and as a result, the Mayor and Council’s often touted 5-year plan to turn a profit has now become a 6-year plan. This “great deal” has already cost us taxpayers over $6 million dollars…and counting.

2015: Vestar convinces the Town Council to allow the addition of illuminated signs on the backside of the buildings at OVM, insisting that this would be the catalyst that would spark retail interest. Once again, the expected results were not achieved. (Only two new businesses have opened in the past two years, 22 empty storefronts still remain along with about a half dozen undeveloped dirt lots).

A 47% percent vacancy rate
Also of note is that, according to Vestar’s Oro Valley Marketplace website, there are currently only 25 businesses in operation despite being just three months away from the 9-year anniversary of the mall’s opening (October 2008). That’s 25 open businesses and 22 empty storefronts -- in other words, nearly half of the retail space remains vacant. In fact, there are two buildings that are completely unoccupied (Bldg. 1930 containing four units and Bldg. 12115 containing six units).

Town Council Irresponsible Decisions ~ Cost to Taxpayers

• $23.2 million in sales tax revenue “shared” with developer Vestar
• $1 million to purchase the Community Center and Golf Courses from developer HSL
• $1.2 million transferred from the General Fund Contingency to the Community Center Fund
• $350,000 transferred from the General Fund into the Community Center Fund
• $4.3 million in sales tax revenues since 2015 directed to the Community Center Fund
• $50,000 to hire consultants to make recommendations to improve golf and restaurant operations

Total Cost: $30 million dollars

Beware of the Deal Makers
Keep all of this in mind as the next group of “deal makers” is setting us up for the next hoodwinking; the proposed $17 million dollar Naranja Park Bond, which will actually cost Oro Valley homeowners $28 million dollars in principle and interest payments via a 20-year long secondary property tax.

Expect the Naranja Bond to be another grossly oversold endeavor. Don’t get fooled again!
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Guest View: Diane Peters ~ Oro Valley Town Council repeatedly gets Hoodwinked by “The Deal Makers.” Part 1.

PAST HISTORY

An “Illuminating” Chain of Events
In March of 2015, Oro Valley Marketplace (OVM) had been operating for over 6 years when David Malin, (Vestar’s Project Manager for OVM) admitted during a council meeting that Vestar was still “scrambling to find tenants.” He insisted that adding illuminated signs on the back of the buildings would help them to attract the “dynamic tenants” that they were seeking. He implored the Town Council to revise the Master Sign Program to allow illuminated signs on the backside of the stores facing Oracle and Tangerine Roads.

That same evening, the Town Council voted 4-3 to revise the Master Sign Program at OVM to accommodate Vestar, thereby breaking a 9-year long agreement with Oro Valley residents to prohibit illuminated signs on those roadways in order to preserve the beauty of these scenic corridors. It will come as no surprise to avid LOVE readers that it was Mayor Hiremath and Councilmembers Hornat-Snider-Waters who voted to approve, while Councilmembers Burns-Garner-Zinkin were opposed.

David Malin presented the following plea during the March 4, 2015 Town Council meeting:

“All we’re asking for is to be on a level playing field. At the end of the day, this is a shopping center. We did spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and contributed public art in the middle of this project…but at the end of the day, we need to operate a successful shopping center and a successful shopping center is getting in as many dynamic tenants as we can so that lots of customers in the community go out and spend lots of money so we can make lots of sales tax for the Town.

Every time a retailer can’t check off a box, like whether they can have a sign on the back of their building, facing the road, we are then not on a level playing field. We are then scrambling to find tenants, which is where we are today.”

The Chamber of Commerce also weighed in:
Dave Perry, President of the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce, submitted a letter to the Town Council supporting the Master Sign Program revision. He wrote in part:

“The Marketplace has shining, successful businesses, but others that need more traffic. Last month, two Marketplace businesses closed. It is our understanding that others want to lease space in the Marketplace, but they want assurances of rear-wall signage.

We respectfully request those permissions be granted so that Oro Valley Marketplace can step closer to its full potential.”

CURRENT EVENTS

Fast-forward to July 2017: Two years and four months later…
Two years is certainly enough time to determine whether or not the addition of illuminated signs on Oracle and Tangerine has been instrumental in drumming up new business. So, what is the status after two years and four months?

Only two new businesses have opened
It turns out that Vestar is still “scrambling to find tenants” because in the past two years since the Town agreed to revise the Master Sign Program, Vestar has attracted only two new businesses to OV Marketplace. Those businesses are Southern Arizona Urgent Care and Sakura Sushi (which according to Town records, opened in November 2015 and August 2016, respectively).

This begs the question, what happened to all of the other businesses that Dave Perry mentioned in his letter that would lease space at OVM once they had assurances of rear-wall signage? As of July 15, 2017, there are still 22 empty storefronts at Oro Valley Marketplace.

The $23 million dollar boondoggle
Many of you will remember that Vestar convinced the Town Council (and 52% of Oro Valley voters) to agree to a sales tax “incentive” known as an Economic Development Agreement (EDA) whereby Oro Valley would be required to share 45% of our sales tax revenue with Vestar up to $23.2 million dollars. In return, we were promised a “unique” mall with “signature shops.” What did we get? Discount chains including Wal-Mart and Big Lots and chain restaurants to include Olive Garden and In-N-Out-Burger.

Another grossly oversold enterprise
So in the end, the Majority-4 did an end run around the Town sign code, the Dark Skies initiative, and any consideration for what the residents wanted so they could entertain yet another request from a multi-million dollar corporation to prop up a failing enterprise which was grossly oversold to the taxpayers.

Part 2 of this article will be published tomorrow.
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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 slated for the LaCholla-Naranja-Lambert-Shannon area. 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.