An Oro Valley neighborhood is angry and concerned about a new neighbor — a 30-foot tall Ace Hardware building — and says the town didn't do its part to protect its interests.
Some residents of Tangerine Hills, a neighborhood located off Tangerine Road, said they had no idea the nearby building would be so intrusive and the town should have been more considerate of them.
"We'd sit and watch" the construction, said resident Dawna Raymond. "Every four-foot course, we'd say, 'It can't go any taller.This is Oro Valley.' " A course is a continuous layer of building material.
Since the Raymonds and other residents spoke at a recent Town Council meeting, town officials have been working with them.
"We always take the concerns of our citizens very seriously, and we are currently working with the neighbors to address the objections they raised at the June 6 Town Council meeting regarding the Ace Hardware project," said Town Manager David Andrews in an e-mail statement through Mary Davis, Oro Valley's spokeswoman.
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But the 30-foot structure is allowed under the site's zoning, which has been in place since 1995. Oro Valley's zoning for the site allows buildings up to 30 feet tall, while its former zoning according to Pima County code allowed buildings as tall as 39 feet.
"Our constituent services coordinator has been meeting with the neighbors, reviewing all procedures and talking with everyone involved to determine what the greatest concerns are and assess what solutions may exist. We hope to help facilitate a resolution between all parties as quickly as possible," Andrews said through Davis.
The Ace Hardware building is located in the Placita De Oro shopping center, which is on the southwest corner of North First Avenue and Tangerine Road. Ace is the 50,575-square-foot center's anchor store.
Representatives from the shopping center's developer, Diversified Partners Development Co., recently met with several Tangerine Hills residents.
The residents gave Diversified Partners "a list of unreasonable demands, including compensation for lost market value of their homes. We will continue to be good neighbors, however, we refuse to be the scapegoat for the failing housing market and will not be meeting their demands," said Liz Gaston, project manager, via e-mail.
Besides compensation for any lost property value, the Raymonds said they would like either vegetation or a solid wall barrier that blocks their view of the building, said Norman Raymond, Dawna's husband.
The developer already built a six-foot stucco wall, pursuant to the town-approved plans, Gaston said.
However, the Raymonds say, due to the difference in elevation between their and the center's properties, the existing wall doesn't adequately block their view. They said they want a wall that looks six feet tall to them.
With the existing wall, they can see the back of the building — including the loading dock — and worry that, once the store is open, anyone on the dock or in the back parking lot will have a view of their yard.
Their family doesn't feel comfortable in the backyard pool anymore because of the lack of privacy, Norman Raymond said.
Another neighbor, Rachel Martin, said she and her husband, Tom, are worried about industrial lighting and noise from shoppers and cars, among other concerns.
"We feel vulnerable standing out in our yard," she said.
The developer provided a 50-foot buffer, including designated natural preservation areas, between the residential property lines and the center's wall. Oro Valley's Town Council approved the size of the buffer area in 2005, when it unanimously approved the development plan for the site.
The Raymonds and other residents say they did not know about that and other public meetings.
"It should have been a red flag (to the town) that no one in this neighborhood went to talk about it," Norman Raymond said.
Homeowners knew it was zoned commercial but thought the property was going to be developed into office space, said Dawna Raymond. They wonder why the town did not notify them of plans to build a hardware store there, like they had been notified of an automotive service and repair business formerly proposed for the property.
An automotive service center, unlike a hardware store, requires a conditional use permit under Town Code. Public hearings for conditional use permits require more public notification than a regular development.
But the residents say they want the developer or the town to fix the situation, which they say has hurt them financially and reduced their quality of life.
"We're willing to meet somewhere in the middle, but we need to be heard," Rachel Martin said.
