NOGALES, Ariz. — Santa Cruz County supervisors took a big step Wednesday toward turning the small, bustling arts-retirement community of Tubac into a large suburban development.
After a contentious four-hour hearing, supervisors voted 2-1 to amend the county's Comprehensive Land Use Plan twice. The votes amount to recommendations for up to 9,400 new homes, two golf courses and two resorts in two new developments.
A county planner said the projects will turn Tubac into "the next Scottsdale," complete with upscale shops and high-end homes.
Developers of Las Mesas and Sopori Ranch disagreed.
They said their projects would have plenty of affordable housing and not be as densely populated as the Phoenix suburb. But they won't know what that housing will cost until the developments move further along. An opponent predicted the more likely model for Tubac is a burgeoning suburb such as Sahuarita in Pima County, with higher-density homes on the outskirts of an urban area.
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If the projects win rezonings, Las Mesas and Sopori Ranch could bring more than 20,000 newcomers to an area estimated at 900 people in the 2000 census. Today it has about 1,500.
Until now, the comprehensive plan recommended slightly fewer than 4,000 homes in the project areas, which total about 7,200 acres.
The supervisors' votes came after residents overwhelmingly spoke against both developments on the grounds that they would irrevocably alter the area's rural character, destroy wildlife habitat and render meaningless the county's land-use plan. They said that votes for the projects would be a serious blow to the democratic process and would encourage a wave of similar development.
Board Chairman Manny Ruiz ticked off benefits: affordable "work-force" housing needed to attract middle-class workers; jobs generated by the new businesses and by construction work; and privately built roads, sewage plants and water lines within the developments that would not be the county's responsibility to maintain.
Ruiz also said that new retail opportunities in the developments will curb some of the outflow of sales-tax revenue from Santa Cruz County residents into stores in Pima County.
"We made a decision that gives the opportunity for anyone wanting a Planned Area Development, a master-planned community that we can all live with," Ruiz said in an interview after the vote. "We can have young families, good schools for good, healthy families."
The hearing got personal and bitter, with Supervisor Bobby Damon blasting opponents of the project as "no growthers," and opponents accusing Damon and Ruiz, who voted for the project, of having their minds made up. Supervisor John Maynard, who represents the Tubac area, cast the only "no" vote.
Toward the end of the hearing, Ruiz accused hostile speakers from the crowd of "pushing me over the fence" to support the projects, to which residents replied, "shame on you" and "childish."
After the hearing, Ruiz said he had been up until early that morning reading about the projects, and had begun "second guessing" himself about his feelings in favor of them toward the end of the hearing.
Opponents of the developments said they didn't believe Ruiz was ever on the fence because he had made so many statements earlier in the hearing that sounded supportive.
Overflowing the 125-person meeting room and packing another 100 people outside it, opponents outnumbered supporters 5-to-1 out of more than 80 people who spoke on the 2,600-home Las Mesas. They also outnumbered supporters 17-to-1 out of nearly 90 people who spoke on the 6,800-home Sopori project.
The board overruled its Planning and Zoning Commission, which had recommended 7-2 against Sopori and 5-4 against Las Mesas.
After the vote, a Santa Cruz County planner said, "When you go to Scottsdale, that's what they talk about, that 'Tubac will be the next Scottsdale,' " a reference to the wealthy East Valley suburb of Phoenix that is replete with golf courses, resorts, expensive shops, art and million-dollar homes.
"What are they calling affordable?" asked planner Rick Hindmann, whose department took no stance on the plan amendments. "Until you are on the ground selling, they can't put a number to it. Nobody can. They talk about it and it sounds good. But is $225,000 affordable? That's the low end."
Scottsdale is exactly the opposite of what Sopori Ranch's owners are talking about, said Ross Wilson, vice president of the development's owners First United Realty and an investor in the project.
"The current zoning is four-acre lots, and the four-acre lot is not attainable for anything but a small segment of society," Wilson said. "We're offering diversity, entry level, a family product, a retirement product, plus commercial and retail and recreation. We are offering a sustainable community."
Andy Courtney, Las Mesas' principal owner, said the project will be more rural than congested Scottsdale, with an equestrian center, no golf course, a Canyon Ranch-like resort, hiking and walking trails, and 40 percent to 50 percent of the property set aside as natural open space, parks and trails. "We absolutely understand that affordable housing is paramount for that area," but won't have specific price targets until the developers come in for a rezoning, probably next year, he said.
Rich Bowman, a small Tubac builder who has spearheaded opposition to the project, said he was not sure affordable housing would work within developments such as Sopori containing lots of highly upscale homes.
"If I was a young person with a service-related job, I don't want to live in an affordable housing district surrounded by million-dollar homes," said Bowman, vice president of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council. "I think we would be creating a ghetto inside the million-dollar homes. Maybe Amado or Rio Rico would be better for affordable housing. I don't think we'll see much, based on what these developers are pushing."
During the hearing, Olivia Ainza of Rio Rico said she supported the Sopori project because it would provide new jobs and retail shops, meaning Santa Cruz County residents wouldn't go into Green Valley to buy things.
Opponent Barbara Gray of Tubac spoke against the project with a limerick:
"There once was a county named Santa Cruz
Who lost sight of all they had to lose.
The officials fought
While developers bought
And residents lost millions
and all their views."
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fast facts
Facts about Las Mesas and Sopori Ranch:
• WATER: Sopori developers say their groundwater pumping will lower the water table by 38 feet at most. Las Mesas developers say their project will use no more water than the farming that is there now.
• TRAFFIC: Sopori would generate about 68,000 daily trips along Interstate 19, while Las Mesas would generate about 26,000 new daily trips, compared to about 40,000 total daily trips along both stretches of I-19 currently, according to preliminary Santa Cruz County estimates.
• SCHOOLS: Both developers say they will donate elementary and/or middle school sites.
• OPEN SPACE: Sopori will set aside 42 percent of its property, with a small portion of that for golfing areas, while Las Mesas will set aside 40 to 50 percent, with no golf.
