Meritage Homes Continues To "Trash The Desert" (Part 2)

Meritage Homes is literally trashing the desert. Yesterday we published Part 1 about this. It focused on the timeline from November 2021 through April 2022. Today, we focus on the latest. Both articles were written with information provided to LOVE over the past ten months from Amy Eisenberg, Ph.D.
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June and July 2022

Another 50 pounds of trash discovered including rusty barbed wire
Dr. Eisenberg cleaned up another 50 pounds of trash left by Meritage Homes, AT&T, and American Tower employees. She again called The Oro Valley Police Department to report the violation. She later dragged up two large tangles of rusty barbed wire and garbage from the Pima County Open Space Conservation Zone, including a tire on the Silverhawke Trail near American Tower where desert tortoises reside.

Eisenberg continued to implore Meritage Homes, American Tower, and AT&T workers to stop dumping their trash over the enclosure and into the desert and to show some respect for the wildlife that lives there. Dr. Eisenberg reports that after much prompting and pushback, American Tower cleaned up their enclosure and AT&T cleaned up their adjacent gated enclosure.

August 2022

Broken glass and Meritage Homes signs found on the ground
By August, Dr. Eisenberg had cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel. She is concerned that “if a baby tortoise eats this trash, they could become ill and die.”

On August 3, 2022, Eisenberg reported broken glass and many pounds of garbage including two tires which she removed from the Silverhawke Spur Trail off of Palisades Road. She asked the Town to have someone adopt this trail and clean up the broken glass “to protect native creatures.” Eisenberg also found two Meritage Homes signs left on the ground. She again asked for the Town’s assistance in requiring that Meritage “clean up the desert surrounding their construction site.”

The Town explains their compliance process

“Per our compliance process, once the violation has been rectified the violation is closed. So, when the compliance staff determines there is litter outside of Meritage’s property, Meritage is notified of the violation, Meritage will send out a crew to clean up the litter and when the Town follows up to confirm, the violation is closed, each time. A fine is considered when the litter is not picked up from several violation notices. This has not been the case with Meritage, each time they are notified about the litter, it is picked up.

The Town continues to keep eyes on this project and works closely with Meritage to remind their trade partners of cleanup expectations.”

According to the Town, the problem has been rectified. According to Dr. Eisenberg, the problem is ongoing and she continues to pick up the trash herself and continues to report the problems to the Town and the OVPD.

An unsustainable situation
It appears that the Town only addresses each individual episode and then it's "case closed" and that a fine is only considered if they do not pick up the litter after receiving several violation notices.  The fine should not just be "considered."  It should be mandatory.  This ongoing trash problem is an unsustainable situation.  LOVE has asked the Town if they have a protocol to address a builder who continually fails to control the litter on their job site.  We are awaiting a response. 

Between Meritage Homes construction debris, Pima County not maintaining their Open Space Conservation Zone, and Silverhawke residents’ trash blowing onto the trail and surrounding area, Dr. Eisenberg believes that this trail needs regular stewardship.

We still do not understand why Meritage Homes was never fined. After all, if a person/company does not suffer the consequences for their behavior, they have no reason to change their behavior.
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Meritage Homes Continues To "Trash The Desert" (Part 1)

This article was written with information provided to LOVE over the past ten months from Amy Eisenberg, Ph.D.  (Her bio appears at the end of this article).  She has been in frequent contact with town and county officials regarding an ongoing problem with Meritage Homes leaving their trash in the Silverhawke development and surrounding desert (First, Tangerine, and Palisades Road). Their discarded trash blows into the conservation area where Sonoran desert tortoises reside.
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November 2021

Dr. Eisenberg reported extensive trash in the Silverhawke development area. Town Staff inspection confirmed her report.
Dr. Eisenberg emailed the mayor and council about Meritage Homes leaving their trash in the desert. She had already picked up hundreds of pounds of trash that Meritage Homes workers had dumped over the wall (where they were building homes) into the desert where Sonoran desert tortoises reside. She noted to law enforcement that if an individual person litters this way, they would be fined, yet “Meritage Homes continues with impunity.”

Although she was happy that Mayor Winfield had been picking up this trash during his walks in the area, she asked, “What will you do besides clean up after them as you carry a trash bag on your walks?” She stressed that this issue needs to be resolved proactively rather than after the fact.

Town sends violation letter to Meritage
On November 4, 2021, a violation letter was sent from the Town to Meritage Homes after the Town Compliance Staff inspected the site on two occasions and found extensive trash both times.  The Town cited, "an accumulation of trash not being contained and drifting into the adjacent properties and within the build site on individual lots" and "As per the conditions to obtain a permit, each construction site is required to maintain cleanliness at the worksite."  Meritage was told to, "Please remove or otherwise dispose of the materials immediately" and that "failure to comply with the conditions stated in this letter is a violation of town code."  However, as of November 17, 2021, Dr. Eisenberg reported that the trash still had not been picked up.

The Town also informed Dr. Eisenberg that:

"...the trail has been given over to the Town, which makes it adoptable for community members. The southern section of the trail was adopted by the Mayor and his wife, which is why you see them out there. The northern portion is still available for adoption."

It sounds as though Meritage has, in essence, been given "permission" to toss their garbage everywhere knowing that volunteer town residents will pick it up later. That may not have been the town's intent, but it sure sounds as though Meritage Homes employees are interpreting it that way. 

Dr. Eisenberg contacted local media and Meritage Homes after she picked up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel.
On November 21, 2021, Dr. Eisenberg contacted local media and Jeff Grobstein of Meritage Homes. She informed them that she had “just returned from walking the trail by American Tower on the development parcel between Tangerine, Palisades and First” and that “Meritage Homes did not clean up this area.” She noted “unacceptable desecration” and that Jeff Grobstein was “not adequately supervising his workers.”

On November 24, 2021, she again contacted the Town and Meritage Homes noting, “Extensive trash dumped by Meritage homes along the [Silverhawke] conservation easement trail near American Tower on the parcel between Tangerine, First and Palisades” and that Meritage had already “destroyed tortoise and gila monster burrows” in this conservation area and that she and a friend had already “cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel.”

Later that day, she was told by the Town that their Compliance Staff was working with Meritage to ensure that litter outside of their property was being cleaned up. As you will see below, this did not happen.

April 2022

Mayor Winfield agrees that there is a problem.
In mid-April, Dr. Eisenberg once again cleaned up several pounds of trash left by Meritage Homes, including “construction material with rusty nails along their sidewalk endangering native animals that pass through the area.” Additionally, some of this trash “had blown into the conservation zone by American Tower (between Palisades, First, and Tangerine). She reported the problem to the OVPD and the Town Council.

On April 19th, she received the following email from Mayor Winfield: (LOVE added the bold print).

“Thank you for picking up litter on the slope behind American Tower. My wife and I also picked up litter in the area you’re describing on three different mornings in the past two weeks. Litter has been a problem and Meritage has done a poor job addressing the litter generated by their contractors. We frequently walk the trails in the Silverhawke area and we have observed litter is decreasing because much of the construction is completed. I imagine once the construction phase is completed the HOA may step forward and adopt the trails. If not I’m sure someone will.”

Dr. Eisenberg responded:

“Meritage Homes benefited from the conservation easement, therefore they should assume the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves. This ongoing abuse is deeply disheartening. They continue to desecrate this conservation zone.”

Why hasn’t Meritage Homes been fined?
LOVE wonders: If the town agrees that Meritage Homes has done a poor job of addressing their litter problem, and this problem has been going on for months, why hasn’t Meritage Homes been fined?

Part 2 will be published tomorrow and covers the timeline from June through August 2022.
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Dr. Eisenberg is an ethnoecologist and botanist who teaches at the University of Arizona and is an Associate Scholar with Center for World Indigenous Studies. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles on indigenous peoples’ issues, social and environmental impact assessment, and sustainable natural resource management.

Guest View: Diane Peters ~ Wildlife Matters

 

Despite being involved in Oro Valley development issues for the past 15 years, reading Dr. Amy Eisenberg’s recent Guest View on LOVE about the devastation on the Kai-Silverhawke property was an eye-opener even for me. (Read it HERE)

The Town needs to implement a Wildlife Conservation Ordinance
After reading her Guest View and witnessing what Meritage Homes was allowed to do on the Silverhawke property -- completely leveling the land and all those beautiful rolling hills (wildlife habitat) -- it appears that the Town does not have any protocols in place for protecting wildlife. Therefore, we can expect the same devastation to occur on the remaining Kai property at First and Tangerine if and when it is ever developed.

Since tortoises are very slow moving and cannot outrun a bulldozer, I can surmise from reading Dr. Eisenberg's article that some of them were crushed to death or buried alive during the mass grading of Silverhawke. And apparently the Town does not care because they are not federally protected. Until recently, I had no idea that there were tortoises living on that parcel.

Our Town Council has an opportunity, from this point forward, to establish a preconstruction protocol to analyze, protect, and perhaps relocate indigenous species living in the construction area. In light of what these animals could face, this is the humane, compassionate, and civilized thing to do. What the Town is currently allowing is just plain cruel.

The Town should require a “Wildlife Assessment and Plan” to be submitted with every development proposal and rezoning.

A wildlife biologist should be consulted
If the Town can arrange to have all the saguaro cactus counted on a property and make arrangements for them to either be protected in place or carefully relocated, they can certainly do the same for wildlife...and not just the ones on the Endangered Species List. How do you think they became endangered in the first place? It was due to the thoughtless, selfish, greedy, and reckless behavior of man.

Rather than destroying wildlife habitats and killing the wildlife, then waiting for their numbers to decline so much that they are eventually placed on the Endangered Species list, and then we must wait years (if not decades) for their numbers to increase again, why not be proactive and have protocols that prevent this from happening in the first place? 

Demolished tortoise habitat (Photo from Dr. Eisenberg's Guest View)

Oro Valley - It's in our nature!

Is it? Or is that just a slogan?


The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan
I’ve wrongly assumed all these years that Oro Valley’s wildlife was being catalogued and protected due to The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan that has been in effect since 1998. According to their website, below is one of the components in the plan:

• Working with local jurisdictions such as the City of Tucson, Town of Marana, Town of Oro Valley, and Town of Sahuarita on regional habitat conservation planning and the development of their conservation policies and ordinances. We also continually monitor how these policies and ordinances are applied to specific development projects.

This did not appear to happen on the Silverhawke property. Is the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan just a guide without any actual requirements and enforcement?

A plea to our Mayor and Council
Impacts to wildlife habitat must be considered in all future General Plan amendments and rezonings. I call on our Town Council and Town Staff to immediately begin implementation of a wildlife conservation plan. And not just a guide that can be overlooked or modified when convenient, but an actual Town Code to prevent this travesty from ever happening again. We must stop allowing wildlife to be killed simply because developers deem them to be in the way and disposable. On the contrary, it’s us humans who are in their way!

And do it now because we are not likely to have a more environmentally friendly council than this to do it.
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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.

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

Oland: Town Needs More Rooftops

Kai Amendment justification: Oro Valley needs more rooftops
The narrative that “more rooftops” are needed to justify more retail presence continued as the justification for approving a general plan amendment. This is an amendment of a commercial parcel located near the first avenue and Tangerine Intersection. We call this the Kai Property because it, like the entire Silverhawke area, is owned by the Kai family.

The justification was stated a last week's zoom.us public meeting by Paul Oland of Paradigm Land Design, the land engineering company representing the owner.

Request at odds with town's "economic development strategy"
The owner is presenting this general plan amendment to reduce commercial land at a time when the town's economic development strategy is to increase commercial land and to speed its development.

There are many uses for commercial property other than the neighborhood shopping center that the developer presented in 2015, when the entire Silvehawke land mass was amended. The property could be used for a variety of non retail commercial needs as currently zoned. Some of these could be very specific to the area such as medical offices or a workout facility.

Lots of rooftops proposed
This latest proposal shows a road connecting First Avenue and Tangerine Road.  As for the land use, Oland presented five alternatives, none of which are binding if and when the amendment is approved:

• 10 apartments, 2-stories each, a gated community
• 100 plus 1-story casitas with a tiny recreation area
• Senior care facility and independent senior living housing
• A  cluster of townhomes
• 55 single family homes like Silverhawk

Terrain has not changed since 2015 amendment

Tim Bohen: "What's really happened since 2015 to require this amendment?"

There were two audience questions.  Oro Valley Town Council candidate Tim Bohen referred to the slide at right. The slide highlights the area north of the property. Its hilly nature, according to Oland, blocked the line of sight  from Tangerine Rd, making the property unsuitable for retail use.

Bohen had asked what has happened between 2015 and today to cause the need for a change in land use. After all, the terrain was the same in 2015 as it is today.  Oland did not respond directly to that question. Rather, he repeated his assertion that Oro Valley needs more rooftops. 

The second question from an attendee was about Kai Drive being connected to Tangerine Road. Could a traffic-safe connection to Tangerine Road be made? Town Engineer Keesler said that the town will look into this as part of the application process.

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Kai Property Amendment Virtual Public Meeting Tonight

The Town of Oro Valley is hosting a virtual neighborhood meeting at 6pm tonight. The subject of the meeting is the proposed general plan amendment for the Southeast of Tangerine Road and 1st Avenue Intersection. This property abuts the northern edge of the Silerhawke development.

This is an "... opportunity for residents to ask questions directly to the applicant and Town staff as well as build-on the information, questions and comments that have been generated by the 1st and 2nd informational videos posted on OVprojects.com."

This virtual meeting is a step the process that the town created to facilitate community input on the proposed general plan amendment. The town created the process to accommodate Covid-19 social distancing requirements.  This meeting is not a substitute for in-person neighborhood meetings that are to be held later in the the August-September time frame. Virtual meetings will happen if in-person meetings can not safely occur.

Use zoom.us to access the meeting:

• Click on this link
• Enter the meeting ID number: 986 3253 1728

or join the meeting by phone: 253-215-8782

You can learn about this project by reading LOVE articles or the town's postings.
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"Kai" Proposed General Plan Amendment: Death By A Thousand Cuts

The Kai family, owners of the Silverhake Property, have spent a decade getting general plan and zoning amendments successfully approved. Oro Valley resident Devon Sloan reminds us of the history of this property as they voiced his concern on the latest Kai attempt during the virtual comment period. The words are theirs. The subheadings are ours...
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50 years of ownership
"The Kai family is very fortunate to have been able to purchase land in our area over 50 years ago, and I am well aware that times change, but why do our voter approved General Plan and our zoning requirements need to change every time the Kai family wants to do something different with their purchase?

From residential to commercial to residential
In 2015, the family's property near First and Tangerine was zoned as large lot residential, and they wanted and were granted a change to neighborhood commercial office. Now they want to change it back to residential, but not large lot. They want to make it 167 one story or 200 two story apartments or town homes or possibly a two story senior citizen facility.

The reasoning is as follows:

• poor visibility for retail at that location 
• the parcel of land is not exactly on that corner 
• there is a weak market for retail at that location because there is a lack of residents in that area AND because of the abundance of other retail space nearby 

Plus, they claim that retail won't improve in this location.

Already reduced density in previous approved amendments
Keep in mind that the Kai family is the owner of the land that is now Sanctuary at Silverhawke with 40 homes and the Villages at Silverhawke with 186 lots. The Villages at Silverhawke were originally approved as low density residential and in 2013. The Kai family was able to have it changed to medium density residential with the property square footage reduced to 5,520 from 7,200.

Also remember that Oro Valley lives on sales tax revenues, and changing zoning entitlements away from commercial, only limits the future of sales tax revenues. Once all construction/impact fees are paid, the land will produce no revenue for our Town. With the probability of apartments going in at the Oro Valley Marketplace, this area will be saturated with apartments. Unless the Town initiates a "renters tax", apartments don't produce income. The best use of the land for Oro Valley is to remain commercial. There are no lack of residents, especially with the development of both Silverhawke complexes.

Why do we have a voter approved General Plan and Town zoning requirements if a wealthy owner of the property can change what the property becomes just by saying 'I don't want to do this anymore. I want to make more money.'"
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He's Back! Kai Wants Even More Residential For Silverhawke

From commercial to residential
The owners of the Silverhawk development are seeking a general plan amendment to add residential land to the development.  The land, known as “Silverhawke Block 5”, abuts the northern boundary of the Silverhawke planned development, extending to Tangerine Road. It is 24 acres.

The land is currently planned for commercial property. The owner wants to change it to multi-family residential.

Applicant: Town needs more senior care facilities
Paul Oland, representing the owner, stated that the property does no lend itself to commercial use,  according to his town posted informational video on the project. He also stated that Oro Valley needs more senior care facilities. He offered no study, no substantiated justification for either assertion.  Other possible uses would be to build a rental casita community, a gated apartment community, or perhaps some combination of these.

Location of Silverawke Block 5

Applicant: Oro Valley retailers need more “rooftops”
Another of Oland's justifications for the change is that it will add "rooftops" to help Oro Valley's "struggling retailers." This is the same justification that former mayor Satish Hiremath used to justify past general plan amendments.

It’s taken 10 years, but landowner Kai got it done through politics
LOVE has chronicled the history of the Silverhawke area. In 2008, the landowner, Herb Kai, proposed an amendment that was withdrawn in June of that year based on significant resident objection.

Kai waited for a new council. In 2015, the council unanimously approved rezoning what is now the Silverhawke property from low density to medium density residential. They approved
211 detached single-family lots ranging in size from 5,520 sq. ft. to 7,200 sq. ft, with some commercial. Now the landowner wants to change some of that commercial land.

Voice your opinion
Today, you can see the result as you drive on First Avenue. The rooftops are almost on top of the road. The homeowners have a great view of the traffic on First Avenue. It's just another "on top of your neighbor" development. It's nothing special for our special town.

Let the town know how you feel about this proposed general plan amendment. You can do this through by submitting an email to ask@orovalleyaz.gov or by calling Oro Valley Constituent Services Coordinator Jessica Hynd at 520-229-4711. You have until April 23rd to do so.
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