Tuesday, September 10th
6:00 PM
Town Council Chambers
General Plan Amendment and Rezoning
47-lot residential subdivision (Cresta Morado)
22 acres on the NW corner of Tangerine and La Cholla
This General Plan Amendment is to change the existing development rights FROM Public/Semi-Public TO Medium Density Residential AND Rezoning FROM R1-144 (large lot residential) TO R1-7 (small lot residential).
Why is this important?
(1) The land north of Tangerine was supposed to remain low density rural residential with minimum lot sizes of 3.3 acres (144,000 square feet). Approval of this GPA and Rezoning will set a precedent for all the remaining land on the north side of Tangerine to also be rezoned down to tiny 7,000 sq.ft. mass-graded lots with 2-story homes and connecting walls.
The homes surrounding this 22-acre property are on large lots of 3.3 acres and up. For example, the homeowner living directly north of this parcel lives on approximately 50 acres. Homeowners to the west of the parcel, also on large lots, will lose their views of the Catalina Mountains due to the 2-story homes that are planned.
(2) The request is being made because the landowner, The Episcopal Church of the Apostles, is having financial problems and is operating in the hole. This led to their decision to sell off the 22 acres surrounding the church.
One of our sources has revealed that the church’s deficits were intentional as they were trying to boost their music program by hiring a Music Director and purchasing a $76,000 dollar pipe organ in 2018 (two things they could not afford). Despite announcing a projected deficit of $40,000 in 2018, they told their parishioners not to worry about the deficit because they were going to get approval to sell off the land. They then raised $76,000 in 7 weeks to purchase the pipe organ. (Note: the actual deficit turned out to be $30,000).
In other words, they were deliberately running deficits while crying poverty during the Neighborhood Meetings.
This isn’t the first time that The Episcopal Church of the Apostles has been “unfriendly” to the neighbors. Back in 1998, when the church purchased the property, they allowed their Title Company to sue the adjacent neighbors over deed restrictions.
From “Tucson Weekly, The Skinny, Shill Zone, 4/30/98”
“…[Chuck] Cowles is a leader of the Church of the Apostles and wants the church's proposed new site at the corner of Tangerine Road and La Cholla Boulevard to be in Oro Valley. Why? Because the title company missed the deed restrictions on the new church site and neighboring property when the church made the purchase. To cover its butt, the title company then sued all of the neighbors affected by those deed restrictions to get them declared illegal. The judge ruled in the title company's favor. While the church wasn't directly responsible for the lawsuit, the neighbors hardly looked upon it as an act of Christian charity…” [Source]As usual, the town staff is recommending approval. Therefore, residents must speak up. We urge you to attend the meeting tomorrow evening and speak during the Public Hearing.
You can find more information about this project HERE
