Mayor Vincent Francia
Chairman Dan Baxley
c/o Ms. C. Dyrek, Town Clerk
37622 N Cave Creek Road
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Regarding: Enchanted Canyon General Plan Amendment and Rezoning Cases
AGP-11-02 and Z-11-05
Imagine for a moment, waking up to streaming sunlight
through unadorned windows; hearing birds chirping and roosters
cock-a-doodle-doing. After opening the
windows following a night of rain, smell the fresh scent of the desert, see the
fuzzy tops of the saguaros and feel that you can almost touch the magical
mountains in the background.
In the evenings, listen to the chorus of coyotes,
the snorting of horses, the rustling vegetation and the sounds of silence.
If your home is located in the rural desert, these
may well be common occurrences
if “The Code of the West” (http://www.cavecreek.org/index.aspx?NID=57) remains
alive and well.
The proposed Enchanted Canyon Resort to rezone
residential desert (DR-190) to higher density (DR-89, DR-70, DR-43) and General
Commercial (GC) zoning approximately 3 miles (by car) north of the town core does not adhere to the Code
of the West.
The purpose of zoning is to preserve and protect
the neighbor’s property values. While
the constitution protects the rights of a land owner to fair compensation for a
government taking, there is no constitutional guarantee for return on
investment (R.O.I.). Otherwise, we would
all be suing the Stock Exchange every time the market tanks. There is, however, an 80 year history of the
U.S. Supreme Court protecting the rights of homeowners over the R.O.I. of real
estate investors. This is what we’re
facing in Cave Creek today.
We are opposed to the rezoning of residential
property to higher density residential and commercial property located in the
midst of a rural neighborhood zoned DR-190, miles away from any commercially or
higher density residentially zoned property.
We are especially opposed to Planned
Area Developments as the zoning rules and regulations (including setbacks and
hillside disturbance) do not apply for these areas.
Please remember why one chooses to live in a rural
desert town where the jet black skies are lit solely by stars, the night silence
carries whispers of wild animals, and neighbors look out for each other.
Sincerely,
Lisa Riley & Kim Mehring, Cave Creek
CC: Vice Mayor Ernie
Bunch, Shelley Anderson, James Bruce, Dick Esser, Steven LaMar, Thomas McGuire,
Vice Chairman Reg Monachino, Peter Omundson, Rae Iverson, Ted Bryda, Ray
Fontaine, John Ford
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