Courtesy of Friends of the Scenic Drive, May 5, 2015
Monument, Desert Foothills Scenic Drive.
The Desert Foothills Scenic Drive (Scenic Drive) was created 52-years-ago to preserve, protect, and showcase the desert roads of a “special place,” and thus, moderate future development, encourage tourism, and create an amenity that would attract customers for local businesses. For decades, hundreds of individuals, businesses, and community leaders have donated many thousands of hours to create, maintain, publicize, and/or to help fund Scenic Drive projects. As the abbreviated timeline below shows, the Scenic Drive is more than a historic landmark. It’s a historic community service initiative.
A Unique Community Service Timeline
1963. Maricopa County residents discuss fears of losing desert plants and scenic views along the northern-most sections of Cave Creek and Scottsdale Roads. As a result, the Cave Creek Improvement Association (CCIA) adopts a resolution requesting that Maricopa County establish scenic setbacks along the two roads.
1964. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approves a 19-mile-long desert scenic drive along Scottsdale and Cave Creek Roads. Volunteers create wooden “Entering Desert Foothills Scenic Drive” signs.
1965. Volunteers, with the help of a botanist, establish roadside plant exhibits along the Scenic Drive.
1966. The Maricopa County Planning Department issues a report that describes the regional benefits of Scenic Drive. The report calls for large monument signs at entry points on Scottsdale and Cave Creek Roads.
1968. Picnic tables and bathroom facilities are installed by Maricopa County near the Scenic Drive Monument sign on the east side of Scottsdale Road just south of Jomax Road. Articles about the Scenic Drive are published in travel magazines.
1964-1984. Volunteer “plant parents,” with the assistance of local Boy Scouts, maintain roadside plant exhibits.
Ironwood Exhibit, Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, 1995
1984-1986. Phoenix and Scottsdale annex the areas that include the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive. Responding to demands by area residents, The City of Phoenix designates the northern part of Cave Creek Road as a “Scenic Corridor.” The City of Scottsdale designates the northern part of Scottsdale Road a “Scenic Corridor.”
1987-1988. Because of widespread resident opposition, an application to upzone residential to commercial zoning for a proposed motion picture production studio/theme park is withdrawn. The Scottsdale City Council downzones, from commercial to residential, the only parcel of land with commercial zoning that was included in the developer’s original request.
1990. Jo Walker, CCIA President who championed the Scenic Drive for years, publishes a comprehensive report about the area’s scenic corridors and advocates for their creation before the Phoenix and Scottsdale city councils.
1994. Supported by the City of Scottsdale, residents, who later incorporate as Friends of the Scenic Drive, propose a plan for restoration of the Scenic Drive. Scottsdale Magazine publishes an article about the Scenic Drive’s history.
1995. Scottsdale volunteers restore plant identification signs. Small metal “Scenic Drive” signs are posted by the city along Scottsdale Road. The monument sign is enhanced and the original wooden drive entry sign is donated to the Cave Creek Museum.
1996. Area residents advocate undergrounding of proposed high voltage lines along the Scenic Drive. As a result, Scottsdale’s first successful resident-initiated Improvement District – to bury 12 KV power lines and telephone poles along the Scenic Drive, from Jomax Road to Dixiletta Drive, is approved. Residents living near the drive vote to tax themselves and pay a share of project’s costs. Volunteers organized Cookout at the Ranch, the first of 16 annual events, to promote the Scenic Drive and preservation.
1997. Volunteers work with Scottsdale to shift the location of some plant identification signs to accommodate the planned widening of Scottsdale Road to four lanes from Pinnacle Peak Road to Carefree Highway. Residents celebrate as $30,000 is donated for installation of a Scenic Drive exhibit and drive entry signs, which are installed in 1998. A Scenic Drive website is launched.
1998. Scottsdale’s preserve commission approves scenic corridor guidelines and Scottsdale’s city council directs staff to implement the recommendations. Friends and residents, with the support of the city council, initiate a voluntary ban of political signs along the Scenic Drive. Years later, this action is reflected in revision of the city’s sign ordinance. New Scenic Drive entry signs and exhibit are installed. Friends, residents, and the city cooperate in an effort to hydro-seed and re-vegetate roadside areas where the power lines were buried.
1999. The Scenic Drive is honored as a “Scottsdale Place” by Mayor “Sam” Campana and the Scottsdale’s city council.
2000. Scottsdale voters pass a $27 million bond, i.e. Bond 2000, for enhancements to Scottsdale Road, including the Scenic Drive. The developers of a planned shopping area, The Summit, donate $25,000 in native trees, plants and cacti. With Scottsdale’s support, residents use the gift to begin re-vegetating the corners of major intersections along the Scenic Drive.
2001. 475 supporters attend Cookout at the Ranch VI. Held at MacDonald’s Ranch. The event supports the Scenic Drive and community preservation efforts.
2002. Friends of the Scenic Drive marks the 40th anniversary of the Scenic Drive by adding exhibit area plaques to identify “Plant Parents” and other supporters. Friends paints traffic sign posts and sign backs to blend into environment, and launches a successful campaign to reduce the number of off-site development signs along the Scenic Drive. Friends of the Scenic Drive receives the Community Leadership Governor’s Pride in Arizona Award.
2003-2006. The City of Scottsdale and Friends of the Scenic Drive work together to install a left turn lane into the exhibit area, transplant trees to block access to a desert site that is being used for illegal dumping, and shift some plant exhibits to accommodate the installation of the city’s new water line along Scottsdale Road.
2007-2008. Friends proposes “memory parks” along Scottsdale Road to exhibit historical information for the enjoyment of tourists and visitors. Friends retains Douglas Sydnor Architect and Associates, Inc. to develop a conceptual design of a Desert Foothills Scenic Drive Memory Park, intended to serve as an example of additional memory parks.
2013. The City of Scottsdale celebrates the Scenic Drive’s 50th birthday. Mayor Lane proclaims May, 2013 as Scenic Drive Month. In addition, the Mayor’s monthly breakfast event is held at MacDonald’s Ranch.
2014-2015. Friends of the Scenic Drive launches a new website to provide additional exposure and information in support of the Scenic Drive. Projects to implement Bond 2000 enhancements are initiated; remaining above-ground utility lines and poles are undergrounded, and an extensive roadside re-vegetation project is started.
1994-2015. Volunteers clear litter along Scenic Drive, supporting “Keep Scottsdale Beautiful,” maintain roadside plant exhibits, and work with local Boy Scout troops on Scenic Drive-related beautification projects.
2014-2015. The City of Scottsdale and APS underground remaining utility lines and poles along the Scenic Drive. Re-vegetation and enhancement of some intersections underway.
2016. Arizona State Land Department revises request to add commercial zoning on Scenic Drive as the result of opposition from GPPA-Friends of the Scenic Drive and residents. No new commercial zoning has been added to the Scenic Drive since Scottsdale annexed the area in the mid-1980s.
A Unique Community Tradition Continues
In a 1966 report to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the late Vince Thelander hoped that the effort related to creating the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive “might serve as an inspiration to other communities to take ACTION IN THE PRESERVATION OF natural beauties in their respective areas.” He continued, “… almost everyone … became involved in this civic enterprise. Included were grade school and high school boys and girls who assisted in painting, several business men who worked often and long in routing, sawing, constructing the signs, installation along the route, cleaning of the plant types and sites around them, the local lumber company that provided material at cost, and the numerous individuals who gave financial assistant. This is truly an outstanding example of a community doing things for itself with a minimum of government assistance.” Today, It remains a living example of community service because Scottsdale residents continue to take action on behalf of a special landmark.
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