Council kills controversial noise ordinance, doubles impact fees
by Jason Stone

CAVE CREEK – Development fees will soon double, and a new noise ordinance is dead.

Those were the decisions made by Cave Creek Town Council last week as it staged a two‑night stand to get through an agenda packed with controversial items. While it might not have had the excitement of Madonna’s two‑night stand in the Valley last week, Cave Creek’s meetings stirred up passions of a different kind.

The council voted 5‑2 to double impact fees in residential areas to $20,000 per home, despite the objections of developer Bob Kite, who is building the Cave Creek Resort & Casitas project.

Saying the town needed to “catch up” after keeping fees low since Cave Creek incorporated in 1986, Councilwoman Grace Meeth said the town’s low density is forcing the increase in development fees to offset the additional costs of providing infrastructure.

“A lot of people look at impact fees like they’re a wish list for the government, and they’re really not,” Meeth said. “They’re about actual costs to balance your budget on an annual basis. None of us want higher density.”

Cave Creek Resort & Casitas, which council approved in April, is expected to be built next to the U.S. Post Office on Schoolhouse Road. Kite will be impacted with the fees on the 252‑unit facility because it is considered a residential area, despite being a commercial project.

“I think I’m falling under the convenient category of being double‑taxed,” Kite exclaimed. “I’m in the commercial area and this is a residential fee. Right now, it looks like selective economic sodomy.”

In other news, the council voted 6‑0, with Mayor Vince Francia abstaining, to reject the second reading of a new noise ordinance, ending a year of committee meetings, council discussions, sound tests and heated debate between town businesses and residents.

“It has no longer become an issue between the town‑core venues and a few of the residents or citizens who live along the town core,” Councilman Gilbert Lopez said. “This has evolved into a more general, bigger (issue). Unfortunately, it turned into an us‑versus‑them issue, which created a lot of animosity. I, for one, don’t want to ram something down the throat of the greater community.”

The council toyed will a variety of decibel (db) levels over the past year before finally settling on Lopez’s recommendation for a limit of 80db at the May 1 meeting. However, some members of the council felt the community did a poor job of reaching a compromise.

“I don’t know if (businesses) participated in this, quote –unquote, ‘compromise,’” Vice Mayor Dick Esser said. “Somewhere along the line, the committees were reduced to personalities and they didn’t accomplish anything. They probably created some problems that won’t go away for a long time.”

Councilman Ernie Bunch echoed Esser’s opinion.

“Compromise usually includes both sides,” Bunch said. “I don’t think we’ve had nearly enough compromise, although there was plenty of time over the last year. I’d be willing to lock you all up in a room for a week to come up with a legitimate solution to the thing, rather than having to go through the pain of having one side terribly upset with us.”

Francia advised the council not to worry about citizens forcing a recall of the council or a referendum on the issue. Four councilmen are already the subject of a recall election this fall.

“If we do that, we’re not doing a service to the community–business, residential or otherwise,” Francia said.

The noise issue came to the forefront last year when Cave Creek Coffee Company angered nearby residents with loud outdoor concerts held without the proper permits.

Although town council discussed new preliminary ordinances in meetings between January and March, a handful of amendments made at the May 1 meeting required a second reading for the ordinance. Council then killed the whole deal during the second‑reading approval.

Reach the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com