This letter is in response to one from former Cave Creek Councilmember Paul Diefenderfer, regarding an offered trail easement across Cave Creek along Morning Star Road.
Diefenderfer states a “small, but vocal group of people…do not want this trail to be completed.” The group comprises about 150 residents, mostly homeowners in the immediate area. We are neither uninformed nor misguided, as alleged by Diefenderfer and others posting rants on social media. The truth is we have researched the issue deeply. Council intended to vote to accept the “gift” without public discussion. We have found safety, taxpayer cost, liability and other problematic issues. We are suggesting alternatives.
Diefenderfer asked for help to “stop these misguided folks from destroying our trail system.” This claim is utterly ridiculous. The truth is we support trails; they run by many of our homes—we use them ourselves. In this case, a real-estate developer granted a trail easement to the Town in return for a variance to subdivide his Morning Star Road property. Some of us have had experiences with this same developer, who served legal notice demanding we quit-claim property to him so he could widen another easement to property on which he planned a subdivision, threatening to sue us when we did not.
Now some of the loudest voices shutting down any discussion on social media are local real-estate agents who presumably stand to benefit from the build-out of the Cahava Springs development owned by—the same developer.
Diefenderfer’s errant logic cites the Cave Creek General Plan as reason for approving the easement. The truth is the Plan is a voter-approved guideline for future development. It’s a stretch to claim otherwise.
I invite readers to learn the facts before believing the accusations of people who may have a vested interest in misleading others.
Miriam Ferrell
Cave Creek
