Mission Peaks development back on radar

A Las Vegas developer has been negotiating with Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry about developing the proposed 15,000-unit Mission Peaks residential project under the county’s planning process.

The developer, American Nevada Co., last year withdrew from the Town of Sahuarita planning process after proposing a General Plan Amendment in preparation for a possible annexation bid.

Huckelberry said in a March 20 memo to Pima County Board members that he expects ANC will submit a General Plan Amendment to the county Plan Commission in April and that it will be voted upon by the Board of Supervisors by the end of 2007.

The exact size of the project could change during the development process. Huckelberry in 2005 said he doubted the county board would approve more than 10,000 units because of environmental considerations but has recently given a less critical analysis.

ANC Senior Vice President Dan Naef said in a March 1 memo to the county that ANC is willing to pay the county $13 million for acquisition of 2,200 acres of off-site land for conservation mitigation for vulnerable species.

He also said ANC has identified Rancho Sahuarita Water Co. as a likely water provider and is willing to recharge groundwater at the Pima Mine Road terminus of the Central Arizona Project water line.

Road improvements

Naef said ANC would “make the necessary off-site improvements to Helmet Peak Road from the I-19 interchange to the Mission Peaks property. The Developer would also provide its fair share of the necessary funding to construct the much needed Sahuarita (Road) interchange and advance the funds to accelerate construction.”

Naef said the developer would donate school sites and would subsidize the building of schools by advancing funds so the schools would be built sooner then typically happens under state financing.

Also, that the developer would shape open space to maintain east-west wildlife corridors, and would conserve “the most valuable cultural assets” of the 27 eligible archeological sites, 15 of which are from hunter-gatherer cultures that “represent a rare archeological landscape that, for the most part was unoccupied and undisturbed by later indigenous people. These areas will be fully excavated and any artifacts will be donated to the Arizona State Museum.”

The developer will connect the proposed 40-mile Mission Peaks trail system to others on the Eastern Pima County Trail System Master Plan by giving access to: Green Valley Gas Line Trail (#A-26); McGee Ranch Trail (#87) and the West Toro Trail (#294), Naef said.

In return, Naef asked that the county provide conceptual support for Community Facilities District financing of appropriate infrastructure.

The developer could save millions of dollars in this manner, having the CFD borrow money at a lower interest rate than the developer could obtain from other sources.

One-stop permit shopping

Naef also asked that the county, by acquiring conservation land with the $13 million, help the developer satisfy requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers regarding certain large washes and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Environmental Protection Agency regarding permits and waivers.

This could be an example of the “one-stop shopping” for certain federal permits that the county has claimed its Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan would provide developers.

Naef also asked for the right to enter into an agreement to recover costs it advances on the I-19 interchange from “current and future beneficiaries,” which might include Rancho Sahuarita.

Also, exemption from new environmental county fees, such as riparian habitat, other than usual and customary impact and connection fees.

Huckelberry did not respond directly to those requests.

Vice Mayor Marty Moreno said, “I am saddened that we could not come to a workable agreement with ANC. It is my opinion that it would be in Sahuarita’s best interest to have the project in our town (annex the project) and have some control.

Impact town in every way

“A project of this size will certainly impact our town in every way. The roads especially, as the residents will certainly shop and seek entertainment within our town.

“It is naive to believe that we can stop development. Sahuarita is on the ‘radar screen.’ I am sure you are aware that Home Depot has made a decision to build in Sahuarita.

“The current slowdown in the home market is a temporary situation. It will rebound and Sahuarita is most likely to burst upward in the near future,” Moreno continued.

Town Council member Phil Conklin said that when ANC in 2006 applied for town approval, “we received a letter from the Board of Supervisors pleading with us to not approve the 15,000 home proposal because much of the land was in a designated Sonoran Conservation District to be preserved as open space.

“Now it seems they are willing for $13 million to forget the open space and Sonoran Plan and let the land be developed in our neighborhood because they will be able to purchase equivalent conservation open space land somewhere else, perhaps distant from here. That does not help those of us who live here in this area one iota.

“The least I would hope they might do is require ANC to put up a major amount of funds for the I-19 Interchange at Sahuarita Road, which they will use as a main entrance to their development. But is that important to the county? We will see,” Conklin said.

Questions water recharge

Town Council member Lynne Skelton said, “I hope the county will take into consideration the burden Mission Peaks will have on the town’s roads, services and water issues.”

She questioned whether ANC can recharge at the Pima Mine Road facility, saying “neither they nor Rancho Sahuarita Water Co. have rights to that facility. Tucson Water and CAP own it and it is my understanding they are at capacity.”

Various county officials below Huckelberry’s level said that the project as proposed would be “out of character with the surrounding area” development and that “the configuration of the Mission Peaks Project area appears to be based mostly on currently available land rather than exhibiting any relationship to the landscape” and that “the long-term consequences of transitioning this area to a more urban style of development should be addressed at a larger scale.”

County change of heart

In contrast, Huckelberry’s recent memos are far rosier, raising the question of why ANC is willing to develop under county jurisdiction, despite the cost of conservation mitigation.

Huckelberry said in a March 20 memo, “as Arizona and Pima County continue to grow through population expansion, we need to have an adequate supply of planned lands to accommodate this population growth. The Mission Peaks property, given its location and proximity to existing residential and industrial development, would be an appropriate location for urban development.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738