Thursday, July 30, 2020

Guest View-Marvin Whitfield: Rodman the Rezoner

Rodman Rezoning and General Plan Amendment Votes
Council member Bill Rodman, who is running for re-election, has a history of siding with developers. His voting record as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner was detailed in a previous letter. Below is an excerpt of his Town Council voting record.

November 16, 2016
The same night that Rodman was sworn into office, he voted to approve a Major General Plan Amendment to change the land use on 17 acres at Rancho Vistoso Blvd. and Vistoso Highlands Drive from Neighborhood Commercial/ Office to Medium Density Residential.

Rodman's vote came just 8 days after our new 2016 General Plan had been approved by Oro Valley voters, a plan that was 3 years in the making and was designed to last 10 years. That same night Rodman voted to ignore town grading codes and allow the rolling hills east of First avenue to be graded down 12-15 feet for development of the Sanctuary at Silverhawke.

December 6, 2017
Despite a huge resident turnout and strong opposition, Rodman approved a General Plan Amendment and Rezoning on 76 acres on the east side of Shannon Road from rural low density (144,000 sf lots) down to 36,000 sf lots, a change that was incompatible with existing custom homes on lot sizes of 3.3 acres and larger.

That same night Rodman voted to approve a General Plan Amendment to change land use and zoning designations for 108 acres of undeveloped land along Honeybee Wash and Big Wash to allow over 400 homes on lot sizes of 7,200 sf lots and 5,400 sf lots on mass-graded sites.

April 4, 2018
Despite the Saguaros Viejos parcel (85 acres) already being rezoned from R1-144 (144,000 sf) down to R1-20 (20,000 sf) in 2016, Rodman voted to approve another rezoning to even smaller lots of R1-7 (7,000 sf) with mass-grading.

Mr. Rodman’s council votes have repeatedly supported developers.

Place residents first by voting for Tim Bohen and Bill Garner.

Marvin Whitfield
Oro Valley