For more than a year, talk of a potentially large planned development between Sedona and Cottonwood has been on the minds of many, specifically in the Cornville area.
The owners of Spring Creek Ranch first came before Yavapai County seeking a zone change on their 280 acres, which is currently zoned for 140 two-acre parcels. They are seeking to have a planned community with manufactured homes, single-famly homes, apartments and an RV park.
Then, in August, they came before the Cottonwood City Council seeking annexation into the city.
During that August meeting, council directed staff to move forward with the potential annexation of Spring Creek Ranch. The owner of the property, Eric Borowsky, has requested the city consider annexation of their land, located south of State Route 89A, about 1.5 miles southwest of Page Springs Road. Access to and from the development would occur via State Route 89A on Spring Creek Ranch Road.
If approved, a city report states that the annexation will also include a large tract — approximately 11 square miles — of Coconino National Forest land located between the current city boundary and the Spring Creek ranch parcels, which are not currently contiguous to the city of Cottonwood. The annexation area will begin at the city’s north boundary near Dead Horse Ranch State Park and extend north, then east around the north side of State Trust Land, to connect to the Spring Creek Ranch property to the south.
As part of the annexation process, council held a public hearing during a special meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22. Since it was a public hearing only, no action was taken.
“Depending on which way this annexation process goes, and which way the development goes, there will be many, many more opportunities for the public to address the council,” Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski said.
If the council approves annexation, the Borowskys can apply for planned area development zoning to guide development of Spring Creek Ranch’s proposed uses. A Major Amendment of the General Plan would be required in conjunction with the planned area development rezone. That process cannot start until after an approved annexation ordinance, and it would require public hearings by the Cottonwood Planning and Zoning Commission and the Cottonwood City Council.
Fifteen people spoke during the public hearing, and while Elinski asked that their comments be limited to annexation and not the proposed project itself, all expressed their opposition to both.
Concerns — similar to the ones expressed during previous county meetings — include increased traffic, a gateway to additional development, impact to Spring Creek, groundwater depletion and the effect on the riparian habitat in the area.
“If you have all this land, like we did with Verde Santa Fe, it’s going to look like Phoenix,” Cornville resident Jack Graves said. “When Verde Santa Fe came in, they claimed they wouldn’t impact the water table but there were a lot of people’s wells that went down quite a bit when they started pumping out of there.”
As currently proposed, Spring Creek Ranch would include 1,500 lots — with the majority, if not all being manufactured homes. Additionally, there are plans for 400 apartment units, a maximum of 200 RV spots and a 200-unit assisted living facility, a recreational facility, a small store and one to two restaurants, as well as 58 acres of open space with a 2.5-mile pathway along the creek.
If approved, the project would be developed in phases over five to seven years based on supply and demand. The manufactured homes would be owned by the home buyer, but the buyer would pay rent for the land on which it sits. There would be no age restrictions and short-term vacation rentals would not be allowed.
The report goes on to state that annexation would allow for development of additional housing and visitor accommodations between Sedona and Cottonwood. The private water and sewer facilities built for Spring Creek Ranch could potentially become part of a self-sustaining public utility system serving future developments on nearby land, including the adjacent Arizona State Trust Land.
The city would bear the cost of police and fire service to the development but not to the National Forest land. However, Cottonwood would not bear the cost of local streets or water/sewer systems. The exception may be the $825,000 the city previously spent on the private Spring Creek Ranch water system many years ago, unless that money is recouped through negotiations with the developers.
State law requires the city to adopt a 10-year plan for provision of services in conjunction with the annexation, the report states.
In regard to the USFS land, Cottonwood Community Development Director Scott Ellis said virtually nothing changes; the land simply would fall within the city limits. As for the state trust land, he said the state may be interested in annexation if services were provided and the land could potentially be developed, thus increasing its value. The majority of the funds from sales of trust lands goes into Arizona’s education fund and because of that, the state seeks to get top dollar before any sales are made.
Lisa Borowsky, vice president of Spring Creek Holdings and daughter of Eric Borowsky, was not in attendance at last week’s hearing but during the August meeting said, “We would really love to be part of Cottonwood. I think it’s a really good fit for us and a benefit to the city.”
In September, the Borowskys withdrew their application for a zone change before the Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission. Lisa Borowsky said they plan to re-file the application after the first of the year. At the time of the withdrawal, she confirmed that nothing had changed in terms of their desire to be annexed into Cottonwood.
