"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #1083, May 17, 2024
Issue #1083, May 17, 2024
Another repeat of the demands that:
“Eastern Carefree should receive Preferential Treatment over Western Carefree”
at the Carefree P&Z Meeting on Monday night, 5/13
Carefree has been built upon the cornerstones of friendship, truthfulness, factually based decision-making, transparency and cohesiveness among residents addressing and resolving issues and opportunities cooperatively. If you attended or watched the Carefree P&Z meeting last evening, it should have been apparent that relatively small number of Carefree residents, primarily from Eastern Carefree, are continuing to try to change this at the expense of Western Carefree residents.
The “Eastern” residents who have formed this new group, some of whom reside in the north Boulders, and others who live in the Toll Brothers subdivision Tranquil Trail, and near the Carefree Airport in Velvet Shadows, are seeking to force the decisions of the Town Council and P&Z into approving measures which would primarily benefit them, in eastern Carefree.
Thankfully, a majority of the P&Z Commissioners saw through this ruse last evening, and a majority (4-3) voted to reject the proposed Carefree General Plan supporting the “Easteners” demands that future commercial development should be accelerated in Western Carefree, and that Eastern Carefree should remain untouched. In over six months of meetings and discussions, however, the “Eastern” group has not presented one compelling reason for P&Z and the Town Council to give in to their demands, or present a preferable alternative utilization of the properties.
At the P&Z meeting last evening, the “Easteners” were demanding that development of the NW corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington be curtailed and delayed by removing the “Special Planning Area” designation for those properties, but that the commercial development of the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road in “Western” Carefree be accelerated.
These residents seem oblivious to a number of facts which govern these decisions: 1) The Town is not the owner of these properties: the Town responds to and disapproves/requires modifications or approves the submissions of the property owners. The owners determine the use and timing they are requesting, and 2) There is an established process in place in Carefree involving elected and appointed officials dealing with requested changes in land use and zoning. For a vocal minority of un-elected and/or un-appointed residents try to force decisions towards their preferences is inappropriate for other Carefree residents.
Let’s look at their demands in the context of “Eastern” Carefree vs. “Western” Carefree, and how residents from each of these areas benefit and pay. Let’s put aside for the moment, because the changes and costs are well behind us, that the costs for the decommissioning and removal of the wastewater treatment plant in the Boulders, in Eastern Carefree, are being shouldered by residents throughout Carefree on the Liberty Utilities system by all residents being charged $14.00/month - while the primary beneficiaries of this improvement were those residents residing in the Boulders, located in eastern Carefree.
This group’s recent current demands have focused upon:
• The “Easteners” sought a provision in the proposed General Plan restricting the use of the 47-8 acre property of State-owned land, just south of Carefree airport and the Toll Brothers subdivision, to limit the land use to “Open Space only” for the benefit of “Carefree Park”, which would reduce the value of the property at auction. The explanation they gave for this request was that it would help to fulfill all Carefree residents’ strong desires for additional open space. Any potential benefits of “Carefree Park”, however, would likely be primarily to eastern Carefree residents because of its location. The Arizona State Land Department informed the Town that such a land use restriction before the Department auctioned off the property under its current zoning would be a violation of the State Statute, so this request was curtailed.
• Another demand from this group has been their opposition to the use of 2nd stories for residential use in the commercial buildings in downtown Carefree, despite existing zoning permitting this use for these properties going back some 40+ years. The rationale they offered for demanding these changes to the zoning of these privately owned and already developed properties was that they wanted to maintain the “unique and historic character” of downtown Carefree. Again, this is another example of an attempt to protect eastern Carefree - where they live - from changes or development, while in the same breath demanding more rapid development of high-traffic/high-density commercial development in western Carefree on the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road, even to the extent of admonishing the Town to contact Costco as a possible tenant.
• Another demand of this group to the Town Council and P&Z is that the “Special Planning Area” (SPA) land use designation for the NW corner of Tom Darlington and Carefree Highway, close by the residences of other members of this group, be rescinded. This SPA designation, however, heavily restricts any commercial development efforts on those properties to be a premier resort similar to Lon’s Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley. If the SPA designation for these these properties was removed, and the properties reverted to the previous residential zoning, it would dramatically increase the development timing and costs, likely eliminating these properties from controlled commercial development consideration by many developers. In addition, if the SPA designation were to be removed, developers might well be hesitant to consider the site for their future commercial development.
It is likely that this same small group of residents will come out to the upcoming Carefree Town Council meeting on June 4th to yell and shout, and applaud their speakers like trained seals, in an attempt to try to coerce the Town Council into approving the elimination of the SPA clause for these properties in the proposed Carefree General Plan. If approved, that could well be seriously detrimental to the future financial health of Carefree by essentially eliminating one of the last remaining properties in Carefree with commercial development potential from any type of revenue producing development - no matter how well it sheltered and protected residential properties in proximity to it. In addition, restricting the properties strictly to residential development would still leave them open to being built and used as short-term rentals, sobriety homes and/or senior living facilities, uses of which the Town would be unable to stop or control.
The approach of the members of this small group is out of character relative to the historic and successful operating approach which has made Carefree such a wonderful place for all residents to live. The shift to an attempt to treat residents of eastern Carefree as first class residents and to treat other residents, particularly those living in western Carefree, as second class residents, is inappropriate and serves to undermine the cohesiveness with which the Town has operated. It is time for these kinds of self-centered activities to stop.
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list. Please support our Carefree merchants.
“Eastern Carefree should receive Preferential Treatment over Western Carefree”
at the Carefree P&Z Meeting on Monday night, 5/13
Carefree has been built upon the cornerstones of friendship, truthfulness, factually based decision-making, transparency and cohesiveness among residents addressing and resolving issues and opportunities cooperatively. If you attended or watched the Carefree P&Z meeting last evening, it should have been apparent that relatively small number of Carefree residents, primarily from Eastern Carefree, are continuing to try to change this at the expense of Western Carefree residents.
The “Eastern” residents who have formed this new group, some of whom reside in the north Boulders, and others who live in the Toll Brothers subdivision Tranquil Trail, and near the Carefree Airport in Velvet Shadows, are seeking to force the decisions of the Town Council and P&Z into approving measures which would primarily benefit them, in eastern Carefree.
Thankfully, a majority of the P&Z Commissioners saw through this ruse last evening, and a majority (4-3) voted to reject the proposed Carefree General Plan supporting the “Easteners” demands that future commercial development should be accelerated in Western Carefree, and that Eastern Carefree should remain untouched. In over six months of meetings and discussions, however, the “Eastern” group has not presented one compelling reason for P&Z and the Town Council to give in to their demands, or present a preferable alternative utilization of the properties.
At the P&Z meeting last evening, the “Easteners” were demanding that development of the NW corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington be curtailed and delayed by removing the “Special Planning Area” designation for those properties, but that the commercial development of the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road in “Western” Carefree be accelerated.
These residents seem oblivious to a number of facts which govern these decisions: 1) The Town is not the owner of these properties: the Town responds to and disapproves/requires modifications or approves the submissions of the property owners. The owners determine the use and timing they are requesting, and 2) There is an established process in place in Carefree involving elected and appointed officials dealing with requested changes in land use and zoning. For a vocal minority of un-elected and/or un-appointed residents try to force decisions towards their preferences is inappropriate for other Carefree residents.
Let’s look at their demands in the context of “Eastern” Carefree vs. “Western” Carefree, and how residents from each of these areas benefit and pay. Let’s put aside for the moment, because the changes and costs are well behind us, that the costs for the decommissioning and removal of the wastewater treatment plant in the Boulders, in Eastern Carefree, are being shouldered by residents throughout Carefree on the Liberty Utilities system by all residents being charged $14.00/month - while the primary beneficiaries of this improvement were those residents residing in the Boulders, located in eastern Carefree.
This group’s recent current demands have focused upon:
• The “Easteners” sought a provision in the proposed General Plan restricting the use of the 47-8 acre property of State-owned land, just south of Carefree airport and the Toll Brothers subdivision, to limit the land use to “Open Space only” for the benefit of “Carefree Park”, which would reduce the value of the property at auction. The explanation they gave for this request was that it would help to fulfill all Carefree residents’ strong desires for additional open space. Any potential benefits of “Carefree Park”, however, would likely be primarily to eastern Carefree residents because of its location. The Arizona State Land Department informed the Town that such a land use restriction before the Department auctioned off the property under its current zoning would be a violation of the State Statute, so this request was curtailed.
• Another demand from this group has been their opposition to the use of 2nd stories for residential use in the commercial buildings in downtown Carefree, despite existing zoning permitting this use for these properties going back some 40+ years. The rationale they offered for demanding these changes to the zoning of these privately owned and already developed properties was that they wanted to maintain the “unique and historic character” of downtown Carefree. Again, this is another example of an attempt to protect eastern Carefree - where they live - from changes or development, while in the same breath demanding more rapid development of high-traffic/high-density commercial development in western Carefree on the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road, even to the extent of admonishing the Town to contact Costco as a possible tenant.
• Another demand of this group to the Town Council and P&Z is that the “Special Planning Area” (SPA) land use designation for the NW corner of Tom Darlington and Carefree Highway, close by the residences of other members of this group, be rescinded. This SPA designation, however, heavily restricts any commercial development efforts on those properties to be a premier resort similar to Lon’s Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley. If the SPA designation for these these properties was removed, and the properties reverted to the previous residential zoning, it would dramatically increase the development timing and costs, likely eliminating these properties from controlled commercial development consideration by many developers. In addition, if the SPA designation were to be removed, developers might well be hesitant to consider the site for their future commercial development.
It is likely that this same small group of residents will come out to the upcoming Carefree Town Council meeting on June 4th to yell and shout, and applaud their speakers like trained seals, in an attempt to try to coerce the Town Council into approving the elimination of the SPA clause for these properties in the proposed Carefree General Plan. If approved, that could well be seriously detrimental to the future financial health of Carefree by essentially eliminating one of the last remaining properties in Carefree with commercial development potential from any type of revenue producing development - no matter how well it sheltered and protected residential properties in proximity to it. In addition, restricting the properties strictly to residential development would still leave them open to being built and used as short-term rentals, sobriety homes and/or senior living facilities, uses of which the Town would be unable to stop or control.
The approach of the members of this small group is out of character relative to the historic and successful operating approach which has made Carefree such a wonderful place for all residents to live. The shift to an attempt to treat residents of eastern Carefree as first class residents and to treat other residents, particularly those living in western Carefree, as second class residents, is inappropriate and serves to undermine the cohesiveness with which the Town has operated. It is time for these kinds of self-centered activities to stop.
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list. Please support our Carefree merchants.