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Response of Mayor Winfield
"Development of Area 4 under any scenario because of the steep terrain and proximity to Oracle Road is a challenging proposition to say the least. I believe voting in favor of the Town Center PAD Amendment was a reasonable compromise because the final plan was respectful of competing interests, created contiguous perpetual open space, provides meaningful recreation opportunities, and I hope will give birth to a neighborhood of individuals and families that love the Town of Oro Valley as much as I do."
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Response of Vice Mayor Barrett:
"I first heard the Town Centre PAD Amendment proposal at neighborhood meetings over a year ago when I was serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission. At that time, the proposal included apartments that were separated from the commercial, nearly unlimited vertical grading waivers, and many more 2 story homes.
Without the election, it is likely that plan would have been approved. The applicant has met with and worked with neighbors for months to come up with a proposal that addressed many of the neighbors concerns. While many compromises were achieved, including leaving the apartments in the area out of the re-zoning request and limiting the homes to single story, when it came before the council the first time, I had some real concerns.
My concerns primary focused on the vertical grading, the distance between homes, and exceptions that were being made to the Oracle Scenic Corridor Overlay District. The applicant returned 4 months later with a revised proposal which increased the variety of lot sizes, the distance between most of the homes, fixed much of the vertical grading issues, and came into complete compliance with the Oracle Scenic Corridor Overlay District. It also included the addition of trails, 72%
preserved open space that is not on anyone’s property, and an improved recreation area. While this was not a perfect proposal, my position was and is that developer dollars should not run the Town Council, but that reasonable and moderate development should be approved.
This particular parcel was a Planned Area Development Amendment, and did not change the General Plan in any way."
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LOVE clarification:
The General Plan assigns land use in broad categories such as residential, commercial, tech park, and golf course. In the General Plan, Area 4 is designated for residential land use. The change in zoning from one form of residential use to another form of residential use is not a change to the general plan. It is a change in zoning.
