Photo courtesy B. Williams, Stoneridge Community Center, Gravel Quarry meeting
[Disclaimer – The following article by former PV Town Council member Bill Williams is a mix of first person reporting and personal opinion. We note the opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Prescott eNews, its ownership or staff.]
The Stoneridge community in Prescott Valley is going through some serious changes. Several months ago, town Manager Gilbert Davidson held secret meetings out of the view of the public with a couple of different groups of council members and the developer of Stoneridge, Tom Lowe.
Tom and his daughters had formed a development company but the daughters wanted out and Tom was at a retirement juncture in his life and career. His cavalier attitude in the meeting, which I was a part of (with council members Zurcher and Kiehl) , indicated he didn’t care if he built more houses or sold out and let somebody else build.
He was also fed up with owning the lovely golf course in Stoneridge because it was a money loser and nearly threatened to abandon it and turn it into a conservation easement which is a great tax write off for any citizen in the United States. He would turn it into such an easement if he didn’t get his way, he said. And he whined about advertising to Phoenix golfers to lure them up to pay for green fees.
But what he was suggesting was going to put our town government in a position of having to build a multi-million-dollar bridge from the dead end of Navajo Drive off of State Route 69 and his land which is on a plateau across the valley from that dead end.
He was saying in the meeting that he wanted to develop 168 homes now ,before severely needed infrastructure would kick in, or he could go as high as 1,000 new homes. This would require he or the town to fix drainage issues which would be costly to both.
He and other developers in key neighborhoods in Prescott Valley have been operating under sweetheart deals that were written decades ago by our long-time serving town lawyer Ivan Legler who is currently preparing a succession plan for his departure.
Lowe was telling us behind closed doors that he could build a total of 3,500 homes and is sitting on the 1,300 that he already has built. He asked for our approval in that meeting. And he actually said, “ I want to walk away from here today feeling as if I have a 7-0 council approval on the matters.”
Davidson indicated to us Council members that another group of three would be hauled in before Tom Lowe and some of us assumed Mayor Palguta (who was not invited) was not going to need to be convinced because we know he owns a realty company and a brand-new construction company, and seeks to own 4 restaurants including two of the Colt’s shuttered by immigration officials.
I must have sounded like the silly one because I thought this was going to go before council and I told Lowe I would wait to receive a packet with which to vote on from Gilbert Davidson. But no packet was coming, no out in the open in front of the public council meeting was to ever happen. It was all to be handled behind closed doors in secret meetings. This is but one reason why I resigned from town council and it left me feeling very uneasy, as if a scam had just occurred.
Lowe presumably will go forward with building many, many homes and the bridge that I mentioned earlier has been on the drawing board in Prescott Valley for decades, just waiting for the need, because Stoneridge would not have enough ingress and egress to make the fire department happy if there was a quick evacuation road needed. It seems as though this is how politics and development are done now in Prescott Valley.
My next report will be on what is happening with the new Fain and APS (Asphalt Paving and Supply) gravel pit – near Stoneridge. And the other secret meeting with small groups of council members and the Senior vice president of the western region of Amazon regarding rezoning on the east side of town for an Amazon facility.
