They Protected Pinnacle Peak and More! – 
Continued
Published A Peek at the Peak magazine, September 2006
By Les Conklin
Part Three Starts Here
Immediate Challenges
There were two problems that drew GPPHA’s immediate attention. A resident had
purchasedseveral parcels adjacent to one of Nelson’s neighborhoods and wanted to up zone from one house per acre to four houses per acre. GPPHA members circulated a petition, and the move was prevented. (Think how different the area would be today had that practice been generally allowed.)
GPPHA founders and some early members gather in 2006. Pictured left to right, Jim Moyle, Jeannine Moyle, Liz Stapleton Ogden, Ralph Knight, Nancy Knight, Norma Bell, Jane Rau, Nancy Yerger. Photo by Tony Nelssen.
The developer of the Mountain Shadows Resort in Phoenix had purchased land on Scottsdale Road for Rawhide in 1972. Later, he announced plans to develop a full-scale amusement park, including a Ferris wheel and other large-scale rides and attractions. GPPHA representatives met with the owner many times, and as a result the plan was downsized, resulting in what became a very popular area attraction.
The founders of GPPHA also worked with Maricopa County on the development of the Foothills Plan, a comprehensive zoning plan that included most of what is now North Scottsdale.
Scottsdale Annexation
The City of Scottsdale was growing northward and wanted to annex the Pinnacle Peak area. GPPHA supported annexation because it believed annexation would result in higher quality development. Members worked hard to build support for annexation, and when the vote was taken in 1981, 80 percent of the voters favored annexation.
GPPHA served on a variety of Scottsdale advisory boards and committees. GPPHA became an active and regular participant at planning and city council meetings and sponsored a water seminar at Scottsdale Community College.
Developers began coming to GPPHA for comments on their plans before moving forward with the formal city process, a procedure that is now a standard practice. GPPHA founders and early members played important roles in the development of Scottsdale’s master plan, in having Pima Road paved, in getting land set aside for Pinnacle Peak Park, in helping to get dark sky provisions into city ordinances, in the creation of Scottsdale’s Natural Area Open Space (NAOS) ordinance, in the formation of the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust, and in preserving neighborhood integrity by having a section of Hayden Road abandoned.
A Peek at the Peak, First Edition
In 1983, GPPHA began distributing a four-page newsletter, A Peek at the Peak, to keep members, residents, and visitors informed about area issues and news. Because of its popularity, The Peak has grown into a 64-page monthly magazine with a much broader readership.
Barbara Copeland, past president of GPPA, described the contribution of GPPHA in the November 2002 issue of The Peak: “ Members spent countless hours in planning commission and city council meetings expressing their wishes to maintain open space, larger lots, and dark skies … Week after week, year after year, members were out in force speaking in defense of our desert lifestyle. They gave their experience and a great amount of time.”
Change Continues
Much has changed since 1977 when GPPHA had its first meeting at the Knights’ home. Several GPPHA board members left and formed the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak (COPP). GPPHA reorganized and became the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association (GPPA), a 501 c (3) nonprofit educational organization, and most recently, Friends of the Scenic Drive, another local nonprofit, became a division of GPPA.
Our area continues to change, and GPPA has changed with it, but as the Knights pointed out, the group’s mission remains the same: dedication to desert preservation, wildlife conservation, and the protection of quality of life in the north Scottsdale Sonoran Desert.
Credits. The author thanks GPPHA founders Norma Bell, Ralph and Nancy Knight, Francis Yerger, Jean Stapleton, Jeannine Moyle, and Jane Rau for providing information for this article, and Tony Nelssen for photographing the founders.
The photographs of K.T. Palmer and Jerry Nelson are from Historic Scottsdale, A Life from the Land by Joan Fudala and are provided courtesy of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. The photograph of Carefree center is from Desert Forest Golf Club, The First Forty Years by Bradley S. Klein and is provided courtesy of Jerry Jones and Desert Forest Golf Club.
For Additional Information
Books: For Lands Sake, K.T. Palmer, Historic Scottsdale, A Life from the Land, Joan Fudala, Cave Creek and Carefree, Arizona, A History of the Desert Foothills, Frances C. Carlson, A Peek at the Peak magazine, September 2003, June 2002, July/August 2002, November 2002, May 2004
Web: www.gppaaz.org (Greater Pinnacle Peak Association) http://scenicdrive.org (Friends of the Scenic Drive)
Les Conklin has lived in what is now North Scottsdale since 1983. He is the president of GPPA (ed. now past president) and the editor of A Peek at the Peak magazine.
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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