Living in Sahuarita, sort of

A dozen years of annexation has resulted in nearly half the 30-square-mile town having Green Valley addresses.

"Approximately half the town has a Green Valley mailing address, even though they very much are in the town limits and are town residents," said Sahuarita Communications Manager Barbara Dolan.

Most of the town's main business district, a large housing development, the Titan II Missile Museum and Sahuarita's court building and police station all have Green Valley addresses.

"What's funny is, two of our town council members have that (Green Valley) ZIP code and our town manager does," Dolan said.

Still, said Dolan, "it has no practical effect in terms of the town residency other than the fact that it can be confusing for people. It's especially an issue in Quail Creek. Because it's age-restricted, it's a little more marketed toward being in Green Valley, and some people might not realize they live in the town of Sahuarita."

Quail Creek, said Sahuarita Economic Development Director Kathy Ward, has 1,000 finished houses, and the area is platted for 4,000 more. Adjacent to the Quail Creek community, a 230-home development is going in that will have Green Valley addresses, Dolan said.

The bulk of Sahuarita's commercial district along Nogales Highway as it runs into Duval Mine Road at Interstate 19 has Green Valley addresses, including a new Wal-Mart. Ward estimates two or three dozen Sahuarita businesses in the area have Green Valley addresses.

However, the discrepancy in addressees does not affect the town's revenue.

"For the businesses operating in those areas, we do get our tax revenue from them," Ward said.

The process is extensive, Ward said, to convert all of Sahuarita's Green Valley addresses to reflect that they are in the town limits.

"We haven't really seen the need for it," she said. "Most people know in those areas they are part of the town of Sahuarita."

Mail delivery is based on a post office's boundaries and not necessarily by a town's limits, said Sahuarita Postmaster Jack Gerrettie. Because Sahuarita is growing so fast, the post office would have to change its boundaries almost annually to keep up, and that may not be the most "expeditious, cost-effective way of delivering mail."

That doesn't mean the mail delivery boundaries won't change someday.

"We're constantly looking at ways to deliver mail better in the future," he said.

For now, the only negative consequence for Sahuaritans with Green Valley addresses comes if mail is addressed incorrectly, with the wrong ZIP code or listing Sahuarita, not Green Valley, as the address of residence. That could cause a delay in mail delivery.

"If you live in Sahuarita and your mail is delivered through the Green Valley post office and you put a Sahuarita address on it, it's going to come to my office, and we're going to have to send it to the Green Valley office and that's going to delay your mail," Gerrettie said.

April Clement and her husband, Nick, own two American Hair Family Cutters, in the area — one in Sahuarita and one in Green Valley — but both have Green Valley addresses, which sometimes perplexes clients.

"People get confused because they think that over by that area it's Green Valley," said April Clement, referring to her husband's Sahuarita location. "They think Sahuarita is farther out. People show up at the wrong shop. They both say Green Valley and because it (the address) is Green Valley, they think the shop is more where mine is. They know it's in Sahuarita, but they don't know why it has a Green Valley address."

Economic Development Director Ward isn't too concerned about the disparity in addresses.

"Right now we have so many more services we need to provide residents that we think are more important" such as attracting new businesses and services to the town and fixing roads, Ward said, "things that are more important than whether their mailing address says Sahuarita or not."

When new businesses look at Sahuarita for potential expansion opportunities, the discrepancy in addresses does not affect their decision, Ward said. Companies look at an overall area, not a specific community to decide whether it can support their business or service.

Of greater concern to Ward is the disparity between Sahuarita's 2000 census data and the current population. Six years ago, Sahuarita had 3,242 residents. Today the fast-growing community has 14,000 — a 332 percent increase in growth.

"There are computerized programs that will take computerized data and project (growth). But if they're using flawed computer programs, then the data will be wrong and that's what we're finding now," Ward said.

For communities that have a slower growth rate, the computer projections could work, she said, but Sahuarita has expanded at such a rapid rate that companies looking to expand would not get an accurate picture from census data.

To create a more precise picture of Sahuarita's population, the town has just completed a work-force survey, which was sent to 6,200 households in the town's January newsletter.

"We went to all town residents to find out what jobs they currently have, what their job skills are, how far they drive to work, what their job aspirations are and what type of jobs they'd like to see in the town," Ward said.

Results should be available in three weeks.

"It's a base from which to start looking at what our work force is and what types of companies will want to come here," she said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do this on an annual basis until the census is done again in 2010."

● Send suggestions for business stories to reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or call 807-8431.