First, as I am sure you know by now the city council has not changed at all due to the recent election, so we will be fighting the same battles for at least another two years. The current council majority wants to transform Scottsdale from a tourist destination and high end residential city into another urban jungle, complete with the largest bar district in the valley.
Second, the General Plan is back for review and we have suggested a change to it that would split the category of Rural Neighborhoods into two categories, one Desert Rural Neighborhoods which is property zoned for 1 unit to 2 or more acres (generally 3 and 5 acre lots) and the other Rural Neighborhoods which is 1 unit to more than 1 but less than 2 acres (generally 1 and 2 acre zoning). The reason for doing this is to curb the current practice of rezoning ALL the vacant property in North Scottsdale from 5, 3, and 2 acre lots to 1 acre lots, which is allowed with a simple council majority vote without this split. With the split, it would be a major amendment to the General Plan to rezone 3 and 5 acre lots to 1 or 2 acre lots which makes it a lot more difficult as it becomes a major amendment requiring a super majority council vote. There is an open house you can attend Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Copper Ridge School Cafeteria, 10101 E. Thompson Peak Parkway. If you agree it is a good thing to split the rural neighborhoods category you are encouraged to attend this meeting and provide written comments supporting the split. You can also provide comments by sending an e-mail to [email protected] and copy Erin Perreault at [email protected] and Sara Javoronok at: [email protected] . Please encourage your friends and neighbors to support this change too because if the city doesn’t hear support for it, they will just drop it and everything in North Scottsdale will be rezoned for higher density. This General Plan will eventually go to the voters for ratification so it is important to get this change into it.
Third, you should know there is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals called Leptospirosis that has shown up here, especially in North Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Carefree. My dog got it in a kennel which is how I found about it; it is becoming an issue here. Without treatment, Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress and even death. The bacteria that cause Leptospirosis are spread through the urine of infected animals, which can get into water or soil and can survive there for weeks to months. Many different kinds of wild and domestic animals carry the bacterium. So please be aware of it and watch your animals for symptoms.
Guess that is enough good news for now.
Howard Myers
Scottsdale
