The Pima County Board of Supervisors have received over 700 letters in opposition to a planned development just south of East River Road, at the northeast corner of North Sabino Canyon and East Cloud roads. They have received little over 60 letters of support.
In the case of this property, as with every development in Pima County, it does not matter how many people support or oppose a project, it matters who supports or opposes a project.
On Thursday an email was sent to over 150 area residents advising them that developers were willing to compromise on the number of “luxury casita” rentals that will be stacked on the small lot in the suburban area, if they promise to not “incite” any more opposition to the project.
The fact that a handful of residents can presume to cut a deal on behalf of the thousands affected by the development is leaving many scratching their heads. The fact that the developer is only willing to compromise if the neighbors behave like good little children and sit quietly as their neighborhood is altered forever is outraging residents across the County from Sahuarita to Catalina.
After the Pima County Supervisors voted last month to stop a project in Catalina, despite the fact that the community supported the project and it had won the approval of County staff, residents of Pima County began to understand that the County’s development system is not based on sound business principals but political favors.
The 15.14 acre site, owned by Tucson attorney Bob Gugino and his partners, is currently zoned for 1 home per 3.3 acres. This is known as suburban ranch zoning.
Homeowners are not your typical NIMBYs. By-and-large, they respect individual property rights and do not object to development on the corner. However, they are concerned about what more than 250 rental units would do to traffic along both River and Sabino Canyon roads, as well as how would the high density development affect water in the area.
And the County’s own findings make credible their concerns.
According to the Pima County Dept. of Transportation, the daily trip capacity of Sabino Canyon Rd. between Cloud and Tanque Verde is 35,800. The Pima Association of Governments (PAG), in 2012, found that the current daily trips are over 47,000. With the already planned developments on Sabino the average daily trips will be over 50,000.
According to a Pima County Planning and Zoning staff report the Regional Flood Control did not recommend approval of the project. Any interconnect, claimed by Avilla Development, for this project’s usage is an “emergency only interconnect” and not a renewable water source.
On top of that, neighbors say the project developer’s “Smart Growth” argument breeches Pima County’s “infill “policy. That policy states that “infill rezonings must assess the privacy and character concerns of existing neighborhoods in reviewing the location, density and character of the project.”
Neighbors say that the proposed project does not meet that criteria.
Facts and standards are trumped, in this case, by the political pull of Bob Gugino, according to those involved in the “negotiations.”
According to records, it appears that the support for the project is limited. Besides the four supervisors, there is virtually no support from area residents, and of the 60 or so letters of support, 47 are from known friends of associates or Gugino, 13 were from unidentifiable addresses or zip codes, and 3 were from zip codes in Oro Valley and the Old Tucson area.
Supervisor Ray Carroll, who according to emails has acted as the point man for Gugino, has been unable to garner much support for the project. Steven Touche, a relative of Carroll’s has been one of the few supporters to weigh-in.
One close associate of Carroll’s advised neighbors that under no circumstances should they expect Carroll to block the project “if the democratic majority refuses the stipulation because they know it will offend Mr. Gucino’s “group.”
In response, neighbors scrambled to reach any compromise with Gugino. They then wrote their neighbors that a poor compromise had been reached on the condition that they “not drum up more protest.”
The message was not well-received and many are vowing to continue the fight.
Check back on Sunday for the rest of the story.