OK of amendments opens door for Easy Street project
Council learns Rural/Metro contract should be ready next month
by Barry Cohen

CAREFREE – Paving the way for the mixed‑use Easy Street project to move ahead, Carefree Town Council unanimously approved amendments to the town’s zoning ordinance at its June 6 meeting. The key amendment outlines criteria required for a conditional use permit for condominiums and associated commercial spaces, parking and building height within a commercial zoning district. The criteria essentially mirror the proposed plans for the Easy Street project that will be developed by Butte Companies of Scottsdale.

Butte president Ed Lewis, who attended the session, met with Carefree officials the next morning to discuss what is required of his firm to push the project forward. Following that meeting, Lewis said he plans to apply for a conditional use permit in August and hopes to break ground next March, emphasizing “that’s a target date.”

During the council meeting, Vice Mayor Wayne Fulcher said negotiations with Rural/Metro on the town’s fire protection contract are “going very well” and the proposed master contract should be presented to the full council in July. He added that exciting new additions are being made to the design of the new firehouse and that the project should go to bid shortly.

In another major action, the town council voted unanimously to approve two proposals aimed at making it easier for residents of Rolling Hills to make left turns from Tree Lined Trail onto Cave Creek Road. First, they OK’d the recommended widening of the median in Cave Creek Road immediately east of Tree Lined Trail to provide a separate left‑turn lane for drivers traveling west on Cave Creek Road and turning left onto Tree Lined Trail. The recommendation results in the narrowing of Cave Creek Road east of Tree Lined Trail from three westbound lanes to two, making it easier for drivers northbound on Tree Lined Trail to enter the flow of traffic after they’ve turned left on Cave Creek Road.

Second, the council approved hiring Morrison‑Maierle at a cost of about $40,000 to prepare construction documents for the traffic‑calming project. Funding of this phase, as well as the eventual $150,000 to $200,000 construction costs, will come from the town’s general fund.

The zoning ordinance amendments were approved after a spirited exchange between Councilman Bob Coady and Gary Neiss, the town’s planning director/zoning administrator. Coady said changes in the amendment that facilitates the Easy Street project were “drastic” and that they would foster radical change, not the type of modest change desired by the town’s forefathers.

According to Neiss, mixed use was always a component of the plan for downtown Carefree and that the amendments as they relate to the town’s general plan will preserve the tranquility of the single‑family lifestyle while giving the downtown a huge economic boost.

Residents and business owners who addressed the council heartily agreed with Neiss. Phil Smith, a Carefree resident and business owner since 1977, said, “The downtown area is tired, old and in trouble. The amendment will allow for the development the town needs and help boost sales taxes.”

Jeffrey Bergman, whose wife Holly owns Wild Holly Gallery at 22 Easy Street, related that he would like a place in Carefree to bring friends and family, saying, “I believe what Mr. Lewis is proposing is a godsend.”

Reach the reporter at barry@thedesertadvocate.com