Wake up and smell the coffee, Citizens of Cave Creek! Beginning this Thursday, 16th & continuing for 2 months, Planning Commissioners and Town Council are being bombarded with applications from developers that are history setting precedents. Residential zoned acres at Brenner Hill, 53rd and Carefree Hwy and at Galloway/Vermeerch are all under attack to go commercial . Kite’s 20+ acre property (next to post office) zoned commercial, but, applicant wants buffer zoning to accommodate additional condos.
Does Cave Creek truly need another 100 room motel in our historic core? The Kite 20 acre property (next to post office) is already approved for a resort hotel of 200+ rooms. Hotel guests are round the clock traffic, not like 9-5 for commercial uses. What happens to our Mom and Pop Tumbleweed Hotel that has served our town for 40 year?
Kite property is zoned commercial and should remain commercial. Developer wants an additional 70 condos but needs a zoning change. Imagine traffic from a boutique resort, 70 condos, 100 room motel, library, & school house project and the nightmare of traffic for our citizens using that hill & intersection for ingress and egress!
Carefree Hwy is fact becoming one giant Bell Road. Nine acres of residential at 53rd St under attack to go commercial. There is a market for homes on busy corridors— makes for affordable housing for many who can enjoy what we who are off the main drag enjoy but at lesser prices. Residential zones in areas around the commercial should be maintained for many reasons; i.e there is an abundance of undeveloped commercial property, less traffic, noise, & pollution.
Brenner Hill, our signature mountain protecting Pleasant View Estates since 1940’s, is under attack. Since the beginning CC&R’s have protected that hill to residential zoning. Architect/developer Pete Spittler is promising many things in a proposed development agreement; agreement of a higher density transfer to him, in exchange for less density on the 5 parcels. We don’t know where or what neighborhood Spittler will demand his higher density be transferred to as his plan has not revealed that. Additionally, once rezoned to commercial core, any one of 18 intense uses could then go on those parcels—bar, saloon, etc.
I mistrust Mr. Spittler, having some knowledge of his past history in other towns, but also his pitting neighbor against neighbor in Pleasantview Estates by convincing some to lift the protected residential status. Hardly a “creeker like” behavior.
Tampering with residential zoning creates a domino effect. I realize in the name of the almighty dollar, those supporting rezoning wold love to see more shoppers, restaurant goers and home buyers flock to their businesses in infinite numbers. But the more we rezone and turn our backs on our General Plan, our vision, the more we lose the character of our town. Then we actually chase folks away as they look elsewhere for the unique and eclectic.
Please attend Council hearings and let your voices be heard.
Anna Marsolo
Cave Creek
