NORTHEAST
PHOENIX – A debate over street extensions between Dove
Valley and Lone Mountain roads has resulted in limiting
road access in the area.
About
five years ago, an environmental group filed an injunction
to stop development of the square mile between 56th and
64th streets and Lone Mountain and Dove Valley roads.
The group, Save Our Sonoran, filed the action against
the joint developers, Pulte Homes and Lennar Homes, challenging
the environmental impact assessment, said Christopher
DePerro, team leader for the project with the City of
Phoenix Development Services Department.
Over
the intervening years, the court ruled several times in
the developers’ favor but the opposition would appeal,
DePerro said. As a result, the joint developers were restricted
from acting on their development permits and the project
stalled. Plans call for building about 780 houses.
Neither
Pulte/Lennar nor Save Our Sonoran would comment to The
Desert Advocate.
DePerro
said the developers told him a recent judgment in their
favor led to the opposing parties, which included area
residents, coming to an agreement of sorts.
The
developer has agreed to make every effort not to extend
64th Street north to Dove Valley Road, according to Ross
Blakley, director of the city’s street transportation.
“If
they didn’t develop 64th Street, they would have to develop
56th Street because of traffic concerns,” said Andy Granger,
deputy director of Development Services Department. “Typically
we would extend both roads but we need at least one. The
developer has to provide access through the gated residential
development and access around the site.”
The
city is working with the developers to make improvements
that would extend 56th Street/Rancho Paloma Drive north
to Dove Valley Road and is not requiring an extension
of 64th Street, according to Granger.
Developers
are required to construct one‑half of a street adjacent
to their property, DePerro said. In this case, 56th Street
is a two‑lane road that ends at one point in that
area. The developer is talking about completing the connection
and widening 56th Street/Paloma Drive to the north from
two to four lanes.
At
least one area resident is concerned that the developer
and city will not provide sufficient access north to Dove
Valley Road.
Terra
Vita resident Sandy Ladin said without the connector streets,
there will be no direct access to the Cave Creek Unified
School District campus north of Dove Valley Road. Cactus
Shadows High School traffic would have to travel out of
the way to Carefree Highway and then south.
The
city approved the project’s preliminary plan five years
ago. Pulte/Lennar is currently in the process of grading
the subdivision, DePerro said. The project does not have
its final plat.
Pulte/Lennar
has done some construction on certain pieces of the project
such as water services, grading and paving, he said. Currently,
the city has asked the developers to make a few changes
related to drainage issues and larger pipes, and that
is where the project stands.
