Candidate Smith, Don’t bash Easy Street

In response to the letter submitted by runoff candidate David Smith published March 21:

The Easy Street team has extensive background in quality construction, family-oriented, truthful business dealings, and successful development projects in the Valley for more than 30 years. We value and pride ourselves on creating projects that benefit the community in which we are developing.

In your bash on the Easy Street project, you forgot to mention how it will benefit your “voters.” 

Without a property tax in Carefree, sales tax revenue is your main source of income to the town for community improvements–things you claim you want to provide to the residents if you are elected. Easy Street brings new restaurants, boutique shops, and galleries to Carefree and will generate new sales taxes to fund town operations.

I’m not sure if you attended any of the eight focus groups or hearings in which we interacted and solicited feedback from residents, but it doesn’t appear so. If you had, you would be aware that we are not bringing in “Scottsdale-type stores to create a mini-Scottsdale,” but rather we have emphasized that we will create a retail environment with small boutiques, galleries and chef-driven restaurants unique to Arizona.

Without a “town vote,” your community spoke out in complete support of this project once they had a true understanding of what it entailed. We had overwhelming encouragement at public focus group meetings, and at town hearings to move forward with this project. At one forum with approximately150 residents and business owners present, more than 90 percent expressed support for the Easy Street project, and yet Mr. Smith says there was no voter “feedback” on the project.

You claim that our project received some exception from the town that nobody else has. That is also incorrect. This site sits in the heart of Carefree’s commercial core where town founders intended to have shopping and activity. Any land owner who owns property fronting Easy Street with more than one acre, has the same rights as we do to the same zoning allowances.

Your implication that our project is unsightly is uncalled for. We presented this design to your community and asked for feedback. Almost all of the feedback we received was positive.

Kirsten Lewis
Development Manager
Easy Street