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Initial plans for shopping site OK’d by SV planning commission

By Laura Ory
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008 - 05:14:19 am MST

SIERRA VISTA — The city Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved preliminary restaurant and retail parcels for Castle & Cooke’s The Marketplace, despite concerns over traffic issues.

The 6.54-acre property at southwest corner of Buffalo Soldier Trail/Highway 92 is planned to have five parcels: One planned for a Walgreens, two restaurants or other commercial buildings, an area for parking and trailhead to Garden Canyon Linear Park and two parcels along Highway 92 for future development, said Don Brush, planning administrator for the city.

Traffic safety at the intersection was a concern for some commissioners, including turns in and out, and speed limits.


Castle & Cooke Vice President Rick Coffman said the traffic has been “long discussed” and reviewed by the city planners and the Arizona Department of Transportation. Medians are currently being constructed on both roads to restrict access at the property.

Although no residents attended the meeting, residents have given input at other meetings on the development since 2001, Coffman said.

Commissioner Tom McCloskey asked about odor problems for possible restaurants.

Brush and Coffman said the distance from the homes and the businesses, a 6-foot wall, landscaping and proper waste management are expected to stop odor from bothering neighboring residents.

The preliminary subdivision plats will go to the City Council for approval next week.

The commission also held public meetings for development code amendments to allow and restrict advertisement sign walkers in the city. The state now requires city to allow sign walkers, which have been prohibited in the city, said city planner Tina Moore.

If approved, the amendment would define a sign walker as “a person who wears, holds or balances a sign for purposes of advertising,” Moore said.

The amendments would allow sign walkers on public sidewalks, but prohibit them from road medians, obstructing clear vision areas and interfering with Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.

No comments were made from the public.

The commission also held a public meeting for a general plan amendment for the city’s Regional Water Quality Management Plan, or Section 208 plan, for city wastewater planning.

The first amendment would expand the planning area for Sierra Vista to include possible areas of annexation to the east of the city and the proposed Bella Vista subdivision.

The other three amendments would add the city’s planned water reclamation facilities to the plan — Tribute, near Avenida del Sol and Snyder Boulevard, Section 36, to the east of City Hall, and two in the Bella Vista development. The water reclamation facilities would provide effluent to irrigate city parks, landscaping and the Pueblo del Sol Golf Course.

No comments were made from the public.

In January, the commission will be given a recommendation and analysis by staff on the amendment.

Herald/Review reporter Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at laura.ory@svherald.com.

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    curious wrote on Dec 3, 2008 8:32 PM:

    " True. Sierra Vista is not sophisticated enough to have a Trader Joe's, or an Olive Garden, or an IHOP, or Red Lobster. What we need is another Taco Bell or Popeye's Chicken!!! Get a Snack Pack to take home! "

    not smart wrote on Dec 3, 2008 6:16 PM:

    " I believe in growth-- smart growth. To me, this move is not smart at all. How much did they have to pay off the city engineers to silence the traffic issues this would cause? We won't get a Trader Joe's or anything else that's trendy in this town. Remember, this town is full of old people-- so it makes sense that another Drug store is built. God Forbid if they have to drive all the way to town for pills. It's evident that this community is not interested in moving forward. "

    To Help wrote on Dec 3, 2008 5:13 PM:

    " Yuppie-ish' is not a good word for you, but they won't let me call you what I wanted to. "

    rhonda wrote on Dec 3, 2008 4:06 PM:

    " Why another walgreens? Sounds like a repeat of what everyone thinks too.
    The new walmart when it comes will wipe them out anyways. Such a waste. New resturants are always welcome! "

    Steve Gelley wrote on Dec 3, 2008 3:47 PM:

    " Anything Castle & Crook want is just fine with Sierra Vista, no matter what they want to do. "

    Yuppie Pwng wrote on Dec 3, 2008 3:25 PM:

    " So much talk about Yuppies! You mean us educated people who actually work for a living, contribute to society and pay our taxes? Sierra Vista has a great opportunity to become a classy southwestern town, not just another pit stop for squatters. Clean up Fry Blvd and turn it into something like Mill Ave. Bulldoze Fry town and reinstate the old drive-in Movie Theater. Build a good Italian place, a Red Lobster, and a grocery store near BST & 92. "

    help wrote on Dec 3, 2008 12:52 PM:

    " it may be yuppie-ish, but please please - and this goes to everybody, please stop using an apostrophie to pluralize a noun (or anything else for that matter). Please stop. "

    Build more retail during a recession wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:23 AM:

    " Another Walgreens? Just what we need. I agree with mae, how about a grocery store? And as far as the two restaurants...can we get something other than a corporate chain like Chili's® or Applebees®? God forbid we build another Golden Corral or even worse another steak house. In a perfect world, we'd get a Trader Joe's but that's not going to happen here. "

    jumper wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:00 AM:

    " If you think getting in and out of the post office is a mess, just wait until this center opens! No turns here, no turns there and once you do get there, you will have a hard time getting home with all the restrictions.

    Probably would have been better off to just landscape the site and not try to develop it into a shopping center. "

    Yo Mae wrote on Dec 3, 2008 9:21 AM:

    " Basha exclusively caters to Yuppies! I do agree that a grocery store in that part of town would be well-used and convenient to those of us who live there. "

    mae wrote on Dec 3, 2008 5:57 AM:

    " Castle and Cooke why don't you get a grocery store to this side of town like an Albertson's or Basha. anything but Fry's or Safeway that want to market to yuppie's "

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