Guest Comment: A county fiasco about a three-story building

My discovery that a new senior housing facility (Green Valley Retirement Homes) is to be built at the intersection of Camino del Sol and Retorno de Anza prompted me to find out more about this project.

So, I asked for a meeting of representatives from the county, the developer, GVCCC, and residents of Desert Hills 3, 4 & 5.

I felt it was important for all concerned to learn about this building’s aesthetics, structural design, and how it will blend into the existing landscaping of the area.

Drawings shown at this meeting indicated that the building will be three stories high (a skyscraper by Green Valley standards!), which will take away the magnificent views of the Santa Rita Mountains for many people, and will most certainly diminish their property values.

Although the architect assured us that elevation of the property would be lowered so as to make the building appear to be two stories rather than three, that paint on the exterior of the building would be in Southwest colors, and that the area would be landscaped with desert plantings,

I am not convinced that the building will be lowered enough, or that the exterior will appear to be truly Southwest.

There is also a lighting issue with this project.

The south end of Green Valley has a higher restriction on lighting than the north end, because of the proximity of the observatory on Mount Hopkins. I just hope that the county will be as stringent with rules for lighting on this property as it is for the rest of us.

Whatever lighting is planned for this property, it will cause unacceptable interference for both the observatory and the residents who live directly across the street.

Another very important issue has to do with water. It is my understanding that any developer has to get assurance from the proper authorities that there would be enough water to supply the needs of its project for a particular amount of time without affecting the rest of the community.

It seems to me that the added demands for water caused by this building will just exacerbate the major problem of our dwindling water supply.

If this is not already a county requirement, it certainly should be.

Obviously, the developers did not take into consideration the traffic problems this project will cause due to the two-way traffic pattern within the development.

Having egress and ingress at the same point on Retorno De Anza, very close to the corner of de Sol and de Anza, is just inviting collisions.

A far better plan would be a one-way entrance at de Anza and a one-way exit to Mercado. Increased traffic will also cause additional wear and tear on the Pima County roads adjacent to the property.

History has shown us that street maintenance in Green Valley is low on the priority list of the county.

This will only get worse because of the recent budget cuts for such things as road maintenance.

My reason for asking for this meeting was to make known to the residents of Desert Hills 3, 4 & 5 that this project was ongoing.

No public meetings had been held before or after building permits were awarded, and the county had failed to notify GVCCC that this project had been given the green light.

Although I am not averse to seeing this property developed, I do not like the prospects of a three-story skyscraper coming to our neighborhood.

I firmly believe it’s extremely important that before any project is finalized by the county that the residents of the surrounding community know what is happening and have a chance to voice their feelings.

It is grossly unfair that the first time we hear about about a project is after it’s a done deal.

Pima County once again failed to inform our community of an impending development.

It ignored the wishes of our residents which gave the appearance of a lack of transparency at their planning and permit stages and, in essence, has crammed this project down our throats.

I can only imagine what the tax-paying residents who returned to their summer homes before this project was approved, will feel like when they return in the fall and see this magnificent skyscraper that has cut off their view and devalued their property.

Pima County has assured us that this whole matter of information not getting out to concerned citizens was caused by a lack of communication from the county to GVCCC, and thus to residents, and that steps have been taken to guarantee its never happening again.

However, past experience has shown us that promises can be broken, and often are.

Phyllis A. Buchanan has lived part-time in Green Valley since 1999, spending the part of the year in Brownstown Township, Mich. She is a retired elementary school principal and is the president of Green Valley Desert Hills No. 4, Inc. The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily this newspaper’s