“I can see we got a larger response than we expected tonight,” Bev Jackson, president of the Cornville Community Association, told the nearly full gymnasium at Oak Creek School on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The more than 250 residents of Cornville and nearby areas — according to sign-up sheets the CCA asked attendees to sign — whooped and cheered in response.
The assembled locals on Tuesday night came out to discuss a potential development not far away, the proposed 2,500 unit Spring Creek Ranch development on Spring Creek Ranch Road off of State Route 89A, and the necessary zoning change the county would have to enact to allow it. Though the development is north of Cornville and is not planned to connect directly to the area, Cornville residents expressed staunch opposition to the plan, arguing it would detrimentally affect their own neighborhoods.
“One of the things that we want to continue to keep in Cornville is our rural atmosphere,” CCA Planning & Zoning Chairwoman Deanna King said. “This application is to change from RCU2A, which is residential-rural 2-acre maximum, to a PAD, which is a planned area development, which means they can come in and put in whatever they want.”
No representatives from Spring Creek were in attendance, due to a scheduling conflict.
“Upon learning the date and time, I immediately contacted members of the CCA Board to advise them that we had a conflict on Nov. 12 which prevented our attendance,” Lisa Borowsky of Spring Creek Holdings, LLC wrote in an email. “Additionally, I suggested that we schedule an alternate meeting date but we did not hear back. We had hoped to meet with them in advance of their Nov. 12 meeting. We are still waiting to hear back from CCA, and we hope to meet with them in the near future to thoroughly discuss our project, answer questions and gather input.”
With no representative to present the facts of the development, the mood in the room started out against it and only got more agitated as the night went on, as numerous individuals were handed the microphone to express their concerns.
“What was wrong with the existing zoning that we have there?” said Jim Collins, a resident of Manley Lane. “Why can’t we have controlled development instead of this massive influx of homes?”
Collins went on to complain about potential effluent flow in Spring Creek which would flow downstream past Cornville, warned about a “traffic nightmare” and expressed worries that emergency services would not be able to handle increased flow into the area.
“This is just the beginning,” Collins said. “If we don’t stop this now it’s going to keep multiplying forever.”
Borowsky said plans for the development would not lead to increased traffic for Cornville, because Spring Creek Ranch would be on a separate road, unconnected to Cornville.
“Spring Creek Ranch is ideally situated adjacent to SR 89A,” Borowsky wrote. “Our residential traffic volume is expected to primarily travel south toward Cottonwood, followed by north toward Sedona. Based upon preliminary traffic analysis, trips toward or through Cornville are expected to be negligible.”
Discussion of water issues is actually not permitted to be included in the county’s assessment of an application for a zoning change, as water rights are adjudicated by the state, not counties. This fact was pointed out by attendees of the meeting, noting that in order to have their concerns heard by county officials, they would have to limit them to areas the county is empowered to take into account.
The rural character of Cornville and the desire to not see a large increase in population was a major cause for concern among many of those who attended.
“Living here now, I can walk out and see the moon, I can see the stars,” Abe Weachkee said. “I can ride a horse. I have goats and sheep and chickens. All that stuff will disappear with a place like that moving in, because they’re going to have to build more roads. They’re going to have to put in schools. They’re going to have to put in grocery stores. They’re going to have to put in hospitals. So the sky that we see today, we won’t see in 10 years. It will all disappear with the lights that Phoenix gets to have. So if we’re really going to keep this a rural area, we’ve got to fight it.”
“Our property is surrounded on all sides by publicly owned land which spans miles in each direction,” Borowsky wrote. “Our proposed development is carefully planned to accomplish a self contained environment, one where residents will be encouraged to remain on site. Additionally, we are far removed from any neighboring community, including Cornville. As a result, our residential composition should have little to no impact on the Cornville community. In fact, our community plan may offer residential options for individuals currently traveling through Cornville to get to work in Sedona which may be a benefit to their community.”
The assembled expressed a desire to make sure that the county heard their complaints in advance of any decision on the zoning change. With the meeting to discuss Spring Creek set for Dec. 12, the CCA posted instructions on its website for any resident interested in contacting the county government, telling them to ensure that any complaints be made at least a week before the meeting.
In addition to any effect of a letter-writing campaign, there is little doubt that county officials will hear the Cornville community’s complaints, as Yavapai County Supervisors Randy Garrison [District 3] and Tom Thurman [District 2] were in attendance at the meeting, and said that they intended to take Cornville’s complaints into account when they make any decision.
“I saw how concerned the public is to new growth and loves the Verde as it is,” Thurman wrote in an email. “I have not formulated an opinion yet but it does seem too dense in both. The developers still are mandated to have community meetings put together by them before the planning and zoning hearings can happen. Concerned citizens need to get a hold of our zoning department at Development Services to write a letter of opposition or approval.”
Garrison said after the meeting that he had seen a lot of disapproval from the residents, but wanted to figure out a way to move forward on new developments in the area that the locals could accept, even if he understood the concerns about the scope of Spring Creek.
“Tell me what you do want,” Garrison said. “[One home per] two acres is not going to fly in the Verde Valley any more. I think what’s going to end up before Planning & Zoning is going to be very different.”
“Fear of development and growth is not unusual, especially when there hasn’t been an opportunity to fully ‘vet’ a proposal, i.e., meet with the applicant, learn all details/plans for the project, get questions answered, etc.” Borowsky wrote.
