Neighborhood Meeting On Vistoso Highlands Apartments Tomorrow Night

Vistoso Highlands apartment plans up for your review

Tomorrow night, the town will host a neighborhood meeting on the Vistoso Highlands apartment project. (Read: Rulney Magic for backgound). That project proposes buildings which will house 132 total apartments.The six acre site is a small portion of what was once the Vistoso Highlands Golf Course.

Small portion of land is requested for rezoning

Most of the land included in the project is zoned for that purpose. However, there is a small portion, .7 acres, that needs to be rezoned to accommodate parking. That will require the approval of Town Council. In addition, the site plan contains some elements that involve exercising easement rights between the town and the developer.

More than rezoning to be discussed

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the rezoning, review the conceptual site plan, and to learn of changes the developer proposes since the first meeting last May. That meeting occurred before the developer had submitted a formal proposal. It was a rather long, contentious meeting. As one of our readers wrote us: “The meeting descended into chaos pretty quickly. There were a large number of folks who thought they were lied to about the apartments probably because when [the organization] Preserve Vistoso was raising money they said that what would build on the 6.3 would be "like" the golf casitas, meaning in height and styling. It got people confused in thinking they would be condos.” They were wrong: It was always going to be apartments.

Some changes from what was presented at the last neighborhood meeting

Hopefully tomorrow's neighborhood meeting will be more orderly and on “OnPoint”, because there are some important things to discuss. First, of course, is the rezoning. It is proposed that the .7 acres be rezoned so that it can be used for parking. Second is the conceptua site plan (see panel) and the details that surround that. There are eight buildings with parking around the back four buildings. This is essentially what was presented previously. However, what is missing from last time is a Clubhouse and the Pool recreation area. That area IS now parking.

All of this and more will be covered at the meeting. If you live in the area, and even if you don't, this is your chance to get involved. The meeting is a 6pm in Oro Valley Town Council Chambers.

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Bits and Pieces

Rulney is a magician.. turns six acres into eight acres for Vistoso Trails apartment project

Developer Ross Rulney was one of the participants in making the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve a reality. As part of the final deal between the Town of Oro Valley, The Conservation Fund, and golf course owner Romspen,  Rulney bought 6 acres of high density residential zone land from Romspen. The plan is to develop 132 two-story apartments on that lot.

Since that transaction, Rulney purchased a 3/4 acres sliver that is zoned open space from a private seller. We have been told that he is planning to move his project's clubhouse and pool onto that sliver, so he can put even more residential on the six acres. The Town Council will be involved in order to make Rulney's plan a reality because the sliver must be rezoned from open space to recreational open space. 

But wait. There is more.

As part of the original purchase,  Rulney negotiated a 1.5 acre easement on land adjacent to his property (See panel right). That easement gives him the right to use that land "...for any use related to retention, drainage, parking, open space/passive recreation, or utilities in connection with the development of 132 two-story apartment units on the OV 132 Property, and for landscaping, and other reasonable site zoning relief necessary to construct up to 132 two-story apartment units on the OV 132 Property." (Source: "Rulney Easement Agreement")

Rulney is a magician. He turned a six acre project into an eight acre project!

The project as currently envisioned appears in the panel left. Now is the time to get involved. Attend the first neighborhood meeting on May 15 at 6pm in Town Council Chambers. 

Watch a video about the project.

Town Court has accomplished much since Hazel's appointment

Since joining the town two years ago, Judge James Hazel has initiated a number of changes. Here is a list of a few: 

• Court staff scanned all case files and converted the court to a paperless environment where digital files are properly stored, managed and easily accessed. 
• Worked with the Prosecutor’s Office to resolve hundreds of open and outstanding cases and now carefully monitor cases to ensure strict compliance with the AZ Supreme Court time standards expectations.
• Restructured the arraignment hearing process to be a meaningful event—so that multiple appearances are not necessary on every case. This reduces the number of times the prosecutor and defense attorneys have to appear
• Worked with OVPD to set a standard schedule for civil traffic appearances. Now, every person is able to see the judge at their first appearance and have their options explained to them.
• Worked with OVPD to install a digital fingerprint machine so that all criminal prints are immediately transmitted to AZ DPS. Previously, ink prints had to be sent via mail and the process took many weeks
• Developed a Compliance and Probation program to monitor defendants and hold them accountable for terms of sentencing.

As reported last week, the court has proposed a two year project to update the town court facility. That project will be heard by council in the coming weeks.

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