The Protected Pinnacle Peak and More! – Continued
Published A Peek at the Peak magazine, September 2006
By Les Conklin
Part Two Starts Here
Water Jackpot!
While vacationing at the Camelback Inn in Phoenix, Florence and Jerry Nelson, like K.T. Palmer more than three decades earlier, became “victims” of the desert’s irresistible charm. They quickly purchased 160 acres at the intersection of Pinnacle Peak Road (paved, two lanes) and Pima Road (a dirt track), closed down their construction business in Michigan, and moved to Arizona with their infant son.
In 1969, when they invested in the Pinnacle Peak parcel, they were told that the only development that might be possible were mobile home parks like in Mesa. Valley Bank (now Chase) told them they didn’t believe anyone would live north of Bell Road (now Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard) until after 2000. The Nelsons persisted in their belief that the Pinnacle Peak area could become the Bel Aire of Phoenix.
This well originally dug by Jerry Nelson is now owned by the City of Scottsdale.
With the help of an ASU hydrologist, the Nelsons began drilling for water. They camped on their land for several frustrating weeks until finally drilling into a large aquifer at 560 feet, 110 feet deeper than originally estimated.
The Rush is On!
When the Nelsons found water in the Pinnacle Peak area, developers, land speculators, and residents began to move in. The rush was on. It began slowly but the results are apparent today.
Jerry Nelson stands in front of Pinnacle Peak Village, the under construction.
From 1970 to 1974, Nelson began selling lots and developing six neighborhoods near the spotwhere they struck it wet. Nelson set up headquarters at the defunct Rancho Vista Bonita Guest Ranch, just across the road from Pinnacle Paradise, the first phase of his proposed Pinnacle Peak Village master plan. Prospective home owners and workers employed by Nelson stayed at the cabins at the guest ranch. Nelson opened Pinnacle Peak Plaza (the site of the General Store) and Pinnacle Peak Country Club in 1975 and 1976, respectively.
Original Pinnacle Peak Plaza Sign (Pinnacle Peak Village)
By 1977, there were about 100 people living on individual lots that Nelson had sold or in the six neighborhoods that he was developing. Each of the neighborhoods had a homeowners association that was responsible for maintaining its internal roads and enforcing bylaws, but there was no group that focused on the area’s development and preservation issues. GPPHA was organized to meet the need.
GPPHA Formed
GPPHA formed in 1977. The first meeting was held at the home of Ralph and Nancy Knight, with
about 25 residents attending. Jay Dushoff, an attorney who lived in the area, drew up the incorporation papers. The founders chipped in to pay legal and other start-up costs.
Nancy and Ralph Knight pose for 2006 Peak photo taken by Tony Nelssen.
The founders of GPPHA shared a passion for the desert and its wildlife and wanted development to take place in a way that was planned and orderly, and they wanted the final result to look more like Carefree than the older, more urbanized, and aggressively developed communities to the south and southwest. Residents who had been hauling their own water for years worried that there would not be enough water to satisfy the needs of the growing community.
The group’s objective was not to stop development but to have a positive impact on the development they knew was coming. They wanted to protect their own quality of life and the quality of life of future residents, and they were willing to invest time and energy to make that happen. They faced major obstacles in achieving their objectives.
Early Obstacles
Unlike K.T. Palmer, Tom Darlington, and Jerry Nelson, most developers considered desert terrain to be a nuisance. It was easier to “blade” (clear) the land and then build on it. The public, especially newcomers from out-of-state, held similar views, preferring grass lawns and shrubbery to native plants. As a result, thousands of saguaros, ironwoods, and other indigenous cacti, shrubs, and trees were destroyed along with the wildlife habitats they supported. Without changes in regulations and more productive relationships with developers, land owners, and government agencies, most of the desert’s “magnetism” would disappear.
In addition, the new area was under the jurisdiction of Maricopa County, which had been formed in 1871. Maricopa County is the 14th largest county in the United States, composed of 9,226 square miles. Some residents suspected that county supervisors didn’t even know where Pinnacle Peak was. Cattle still roamed freely over much of the area. Little or no planning had been done for the development of the Pinnacle Peak area, and few regulations were in place to control development.
Continued: They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More –
Part 3
Related Articles
They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More, Introduction
They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More, Part 1
They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More, Part 2
They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More, Part 3
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