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March 19, 2014 • Vol. 12, No.18
Postal Patron Cave Creek
ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
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a sp ew y! N ly nt ek ou ee a C W p st co ge ari r a M e L in
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er
• Anthem
• Black Canyon City
• Carefree
• Cave Creek
• Desert Hills
• New River
• North Phoenix
• Tramonto
HOA specter rallying residents in New River Rumors surrounding the possible formation of a homeowners’ association in New River recently incited many residents to actively attempt to thwart any such efforts. Dozens of citizens met on the evening of March 11 at the Daisy Mountain Fire Station on New River Road to share their concerns and organize their resistance. The main point of contention brought forward at last week’s gathering was that residents wanted to ensure that roads in the area of Greer Ranch Road remained open to public use. Robert “Tex” Walton, who volunteered to lead the group, said that he and others have witnessed recent developments around Greer Ranch Road—roughly, an area south of East Circle Mountain Road—with alarm. Among the host of grievances lodged were: • Denial of access to roads/paths that locals have used for a decade or more • The installation of speed b u mp s a nd b ou ld e r s o n these roads • The lack of alternate routes through the area if Circle Mountain Road were closed due to an emergency and Greer Ranch Road were inaccessible • Electrical wires buried in the area and fence posts installed • Residential expansion’s effect on water availability • Existing horse trails could be jeopardized Coincidentally, Andy Kunasek, a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, happened to be in attendance at a New
Inside: Fiesta Days..............2 Anthem Days.........5 Bluhm........................6 Movie Review..... 11 Editorial.............. 19 Services................. 20 Crossword......... 23 Classifieds.......... 24
River/Desert Hills Community Association meeting in another part of the fire station that evening and eventually spoke with the group of concerned citizens who had gathered along side fire trucks in the fire station’s garage. Kunasek said he was familiar with the Greer Ranch area, which had experienced a development scandal in the past and had been split up into lots, but he wasn’t clear on who currently owned the properties and said he would look into the matter further. “I won’t deprive somebody of their rights, but I’m also not inclined to increase the (residential) density,” he said. “They haven’t talked to me or anybody at the county, to my knowledge, about any kind of, you know, a master plan or a plat.” Kunasek cautioned that, depending on how local roads have been legally defined, private property owners might be within their rights to restrict access to the area, but the public could possibly make an “adverse claim” in civil court based on historic use. “I’ll find out if there’s been anything filed,” Kunasek said to the group regarding Greer Ranch developments. “We still own the right of way to the best of my knowledge, which would make it difficult for them to entirely close off the area because you can’t gate public right of way, even if it’s not a road.”
Body recovered
Members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department recovered the body of a diver at Lake Pleasant on March 14. Nathan Allan Scheffel, 63, of Phoenix had been diving with three other people the day prior at Waddell Dam. When deputies responded to a call about a missing diver, Scheffel was said to have been last seen by one of his fellow divers who saw him going to a depth of more than 170 feet. Since Scheffel was last seen at a depth of approximately 230 feet, remotely operated underwater vehicles outfitted with cameras and sonar were used instead of divers to conduct a search. Scheffel’s body was found at a depth of about 248 feet. MCSO’s Chris Hegstrom said that authorities are attempting to recover the remains, and it is unclear if a medical issue or equipment failure were to blame for the incident.
Eric Quade photo
Getting organized — Several New River residents shared contact information and their experiences in the Greer Ranch area south of East Circle Mountain Road at a recent Daisy Mountain Fire Station meeting.
Town council stop-and-go on Cave Creek infrastructure votes Tara Alatorre
Cave Creek’s town council meeting on Monday focused on infrastructure and deadlocked in a tie vote on whether or not to partner with Carefree in improving Stagecoach Pass Road, while unanimously approving a new infrastructure improvement plan. The plan updates one-time development fees, offsetting infrastructure costs for public services. The fees are based on the town’s projected land use assumptions articulated in a report from the firm TischlerBise. The assumed residential growth for Cave Creek was projected at 2 percent with proposed reductions in residential and non-residential development; the fee reduction will range from 46 percent to 73 percent if the new improvement plan is adopted. Meanwhile, a new parks and recreation fee for residential and
non-residential development was recommended, starting from $94 up to $165. According to the firm, the town has up to 10 years to use the fees collected and can change the recommended fees presented at Monday’s council meeting for up to 60 days from March 17. Following the council’s unanimous approval of the plan, a public hearing will take place on April 21 and the development fees will become effective on Aug. 18 if adopted. The town council also deadlocked in a 3-3 vote on the authorization of using up to $32,000 to pay the town of Carefree for paving Cave Creek’s portion of Stagecoach Pass Road. Carefree will be paving their portion of the road, which gives Cave Creek an opportunity to piggyback on the contract with Carefree and potentially save
money, according to the town engineer, Wayne Anderson. “We have a history of working with Carefree. This time they are ahead of us,” Anderson said. “We pay for our share of the square footage.” Stagecoach Pass currently only has 1 inch of pavement instead 2 inches, according to Anderson. However, councilmen Mike Durkin, Reg Monachino and Charles Spitzer had their doubts on how pressing the matter was, saying that Stagecoach Pass had little traffic compared to other roads. They all voted against the recommendation. “I am not convinced we should spend this money at this time. We are not done with our transportation study yet,” said councilman Durkin. “There are higher things on the list besides this.” The item was tabled for a later date.