Friends of the Scenic Drive Helps Maintain and Enhance Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive.
By Les Conklin for Friends of the Scenic Drive and the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association
Mark Wednesday, Dec. 17th on Your Calendar
The City of Scottsdale and the State Land Department are conducting the last of three joint open houses on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 4 to 7at p.m. at the Florence Ely Nelson Desert Park, 8950 E Pinnacle Peak Road (see below for directions). More than 250 residents attended the first open house at Legend Trails Community Center. The second open house at Anasazi Elementary School on 124th St. was lightly attended.
We encourage residents to attend this public meeting and learn about important and far-reaching zoning change proposals that will have a major impact on north Scottsdale; especially neighborhoods near Scottsdale Road, Pima Road, Happy Valley Road, Jomax Road, and Dynamite Boulevard. Staff from the city and state will be available to answer questions using helpful maps and zoning charts. No formal presentation will be made. Your input IS important!
Please complete a comment card like the one pictured here. We picked up a comments card at the last open house, promising to complete and return it on the 17th. Below are the comments that will be attached.
“Let’s not wreck this.” …
6 Reasons Why We Oppose the State’s Proposal
Back in 1994 a stranger from distant downtown Scottsdale leaned across a north Scottsdale neighbor’s coffee table and asked, “What Scenic Drive?” Recently, that stranger wrote “Let’s not wreck this.” Different time, different subject, but words of warning that apply to the latest threat to Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive initiative. Please read on …
The state’s proposal will add 40 acres of commercial zoning and 75 acres of resort zoning on Scottsdale Road between Happy Valley and Jomax Roads; land that is on the Scenic Drive and part of the planned preserve.
Friends of the Scenic Drive and GPPA, which publish this website (www.scenicdrive.org, aka www.thepeakaz.org) oppose the state’s proposal to add new commercial zoning on the Scenic Drive between Jomax and Happy Valley Road. We oppose the proposal for these five reasons.
No Need for New Commercial. All four corners of Pinnacle Peak and Scottsdale Road are zoned commercial, continuing the northward push of urban development.
#1. There is no need, now and for the foreseeable future, for additional commercial zoning at that location.
- The nearby intersection of Pinnacle Peak Road and Scottsdale Road has four corners with commercial zoning opportunities. The existing Safeway shopping center occupies the northeast corner. A large retail center is under construction on the southeast corner (Sprout’s). The other two corners are in Phoenix and have commercial zoning.
- The state and Phoenix have planned the state trust land on the west side of Scottsdale Road from Pinnacle Peak Road north all the way to Jomax Road. The plan calls for new commercial and mixed-use zoning from Pinnacle Peak to Happy Valley, and residential along the Scenic Drive from Happy Valley to Jomax.
- Today, on the Scenic Drive, covering a distance of six 1/2 miles, there are already three major retail centers. AJ’s at Lone Mountain and Scottsdale Road, The Summit (Target, Safeway) at Ashler Hills and Scottsdale Road, and Albertson’s at Carefree Highway and Scottsdale Road.
- There are also four commercial centers at the nearby intersection of Pinnacle Peak and Pima Road, and in Carefree on Tom Darlington.
- There are numerous chronic vacancies in some of the above centers.
#2. Sets a precedent that will foster more up-zoning in the neighborhood/rural areas along the Scenic Drive from Happy Valley Road to Carefree Highway.
Urban growth along Scottsdale Road now extends more than TWENTY MILES from the City of Tempe line to Pinnacle Peak Road. The Scenic Drive was Maricopa’s first “scenic corridor.” Shea Boulevard was Scottsdale’s first scenic corridor; look what time and good intentions have done to Shea’s desert ambiance. The commercial zoning that is currently in place along the Scenic Drive was there when Scottsdale annexed the area in the mid-1980s. Since that time applications for commercial zoning have el ither been withdrawn or rejected. The city council under Herb Drinkwater removed commercial zoning from land near the Scenic Drive.
Completion of Preserve. Plans call for preserved lands and a trailhead near Scottsdale Road. What will be the impact of the proposal on these plans?
#3. Adding commercial zoning will increase the value of the land when it is auctioned by the state. The increased value will negatively impact Scottsdale’s ability to purchase land for the planned Scottsdale Road trailhead.
By not having a trailhead on Scottsdale’s signature road – a road that “connects seeing and doing” and is used by many residents and tourists – the city loses the opportunity to showcase the preserve and provide access and information to the many tourists and visitors that travel that highway, a local landmark. The proposal will also make it more difficult for the city to save the desert along Dynamite Boulevard and Scottsdale Road Scenic Corridors as planned. It is unlikely that new commercial zoning will benefit the environment, tourism, recreational opportunities, and quality of life.
#4. Negatively impacts and/or eradicates the historic Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, its current exhibit area and proposed memory park.
The Scenic Drive is an historic landmark. Cave Creek/Carefree, Maricopa County, the City of Scottsdale, and residents have worked to preserve and enhance the Scenic Drive for more than 50 years. The city is currently investing millions of Bond 2000 funds in enhancing the Scenic Drive, including burying power lines. This proposal begins the reversal of the positive actions that people and governments have taken in the past.
Entry Sign at Southern Entrance to Drive at Happy Valley Road. What will be the impact of the state’s plan on the historic drive, its exhibit area, and the proposed Memory Park?
#5. Diminishes the opportunity to use the historic landmark to strengthen the “brand” of a major part of the city.
Residents and businesses along Scottsdale’s McDowell Road have spent a considerable amount of time and money searching for an idea, theme, venue, landmark – something to “connect” and help market the businesses and neighborhoods in that area. A historic landmark that is linked to Scottsdale’s preserve increases the area’s marketing appeal for residents and businesses alike. By adding unnecessary commercial development to increase land value, the city will make it more difficult to create the link and build the area’s brand.
#6. Flexibility and fairness are important in the completion of the preserve.
Scottsdale’s preservation effort, despite the problems challenges created by the Great Recession, has made excellent progress. However, there is no publicly published plan to complete the preserve in a way that maximizes the return of the voters investment. Since there is no plan, flexibility is required. The land on Scottsdale Road where the commercial and resort/tourist zoning would be placed is in the planned preserve; land voters have indicated they want to preserve. Placing the new zoning there makes it more difficult to add some or all of that land. The land east of Pima, where the 2002 General Plan calls for the commercial and resort/tourism zoning is not in the planned preserve. Keeping the zoning there does not increase the value of the land on Scottsdale Road. Good arguments can be made for keeping the commercial and resort/tourism zoning there.
Also, in fairness to residents who purchased land near northern Scottsdale and Pima Road since 2002, the zoning should not be moved. The 2002 General Plan and map of the planned preserve does not show commercial and resort/tourism zoning on the parcel east of Scottsdale Road. On the other hand, the Legend Trails land is not in the planned preserve and clearly shows commercial and resort/tourism zoning. The result is that some buyers might have purchased land based on what could turn out to be misleading information. Our suggestion shares “the pain.”
“Let’s not wreck this.”
In closing, the encouragement of former city manager, Dick Bowers, and former mayor, Herb Drinkwater, were motivators in the creation of Friends of the Scenic Drive. Much has been accomplished since that time and there are opportunities to do more. We’ve only scratched the surface.
Recently, Dick Bowers wrote,
“In the future, I’d like people to go visit … with a grateful heart … and to maybe say to their child, ‘people worked hard to make sure this looks like this, and it looks the same as when your grandfather was here’ … that sometime, someone said, ‘Let’s not wreck this’.” Dick Bowers, retired Scottsdale City Manager, 1990-2000, from “The People’s Preserve” by Joan Fudala.
Of course, Bowers was writing about the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and Friends of the Scenic Drive has focused on a less obvious kind of preservation. We recognize that the northern part of Scottsdale Road is not open space, that the challenges that result from a growing community will be on-going. Most of our volunteers, members, and supporters would agree that the city and residents must continue to imagine, and work together to preserve what is special and avoid the road oft-taken by other tourist destinations and succumb to the convenience of becoming like every other place.
If you have questions or need driving directions to the open house, don’t hesitate to contact The Peak. By the way, if you are wondering “What Scenic Drive?” You’ll find the answer by driving on Scottsdale Road from Tempe to Happy Valley Road. At Happy Valley Road you will begin to find your answer. You’ll have seen the difference and know the question’s answer by the time you reach Carefree Highway. There’s a faster approach that is close at hand, click on “Scenic Drive” in the navigation menu at the top of this page.
Note to Reader. Thank you for your attention. This paper wliill be attached to the open house comments card that we’ll be submitting on December 17th. Look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Directions to Meeting
Directions to Open House: Click to Learn More ...
Related Articles
North Scottsdale Rezoning Open House Fact Sheet – December 2014 – Published 12/14/2014
State Land Rezoning by Howard Myers and Jim Heitel – Published 12/14/2014
Scenic Drive Alert, December 1, 2014
More Related Articles and Websites
Scenic Drive Post 1. Roadside Sprawl Heading Our Way? – Published 5/27/2014
Scenic Drive Post 2. Road to Groundhog Land – Published 5/28/2014
Scenic Drive Post 3. Four Henchmen of Urban Sprawl – Published 5/28/2014
Scenic Drive Post 4. Roadside Gorilla – Published 5/31/2014
Scenic Drive Post 5. Dig Reveals Original Sprawl Solution – Published 6/1/2014
Scenic Drive Post 6. Two Game Changers – Published 6/11/2014
Scenic Drive Post 7. After the Crash, An Update – Published 6/12/2014
Scenic Drive Post 8. New Scenic Drive Commercial Zoning? – Published 6/29/2014
Websites
McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (www.mcdowellsonoran.org)
June 15, 2016
What will be happening at the East Corner of Dynamite and Pima Road is that land in the preserve or is it being developed? I thought it was preserve land.
Thank you