By Les Conklin
In 1997, when I was appointed to Scottsdale’s Preserve Commission, I was like many residents. I thought it would be easy for the city to preserve hundreds of acres of land along Scottsdale and Pima Roads. “Just buy it,” I thought. Then, I learned about the “roadside gorilla”.
The Arizona State Land Department manages acres of remaining open space along Scottsdale’s scenic corridors, including sections of the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, northern Pima Road, and Dynamite Boulevard. This acreage is part of the approximately 9.2 million acres of State Trust Land that are “MANAGED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GENERATING REVENUES FOR 13 STATE TRUST LAND BENEFICIARIES, THE LARGEST OF WHICH IS ARIZONA’S K-12 EDUCTION.”
Even though tourism, long-term economic growth, and the quality of life of residents benefit from preserving open space adjacent to Scottsdale’s scenic corridors, the land department is a “gorilla” when it comes to maximizing revenues for trust beneficiaries, as called for by the state’s constitution. To prove a point, here is a quote from a recent land department press release.
“On Tuesday, December 3, 2013, the Arizona State Land Department successfully auctioned 105.72 acres of State Trust land located on the southwest corner of Tatum Boulevard and Pinnacle Peak Road in Phoenix.
“The minimum bid requirement was $26,700,000 and the winning bid was $28,100,000. The successful bidder was the Taylor Morison/Arizona Inc. “While the appraisal sets the minimum bid, the auction establishes the market. Opening the auction at $253,000 per acre, prices not achieved since 2007, and ending the bidding with a return of $266,000 per acre, is a great example of that principle at work.” Arizona State Land Commissioner Vanessa Hickman said. “Today was an excellent day for the Trust.”
Will Scottsdale have the will and funds to include land adjacent to its scenic corridors in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve as planned? The state trust land parcels adjacent to Scottsdale Road, Pima Road, and Dynamite Boulevard are located immediately north of an ever-expanding urban area. To make matters worse, the long-standing precedent of northward roadside expansion has paved the way for developers willing to pay top-dollar when the land department auctions the land, just as Taylor Morison/Arizona Inc. paid $266,000 an acre for land at Pinnacle Peak Road and Tatum Boulevard in Phoenix.
Related Articles
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 1. Roadside Sprawl Heading Our Way? – Published 5/27/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 2. Road to Groundhog Land – Published 5/28/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 3. Four Henchmen of Urban Sprawl – Published 5/28/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 4. Roadside Gorilla – Published 5/31/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 5. Dig Reveals Original Sprawl Solution – Published 6/1/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 6. Two Game Changers – Published 6/11/2014
Scenic Drive Post 7. After the Crash, An Update – Published 6/12/2014
Scottsdale Scenic Drive Post 8. New Scenic Drive Commercial Zoning? – Published 6/29/2014
Related Websites
Related Websites
Friends of the Scenic Drive (www.scenicdrive.org)
McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (www.mcdowellsonoran.org)
City of Scottsdale, Preserve (www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Preserve
Arizona Land Department (www.azland.gov)
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