Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 18, 2007 10:56 AM NORTHEAST VALLEY – Gray Development Co. has prevailed in an effort to win zoning changes in Desert Ridge, where it owns 41 acres it purchased in 2004 for $32 million.
The company, with property northeast of Tatum Boulevard and Deer Valley Drive, won a lawsuit that will allow it to reduce setbacks from 150 feet to 20 feet, and to add a fifth story to some buildings.
It earlier won approval for smaller garages and reduced landscaping on the interior of the project, just north of Desert Ridge Marketplace.
A representative of the master planner in the area, one of the parties that filed lawsuit, said further legal options are being considered. A Gray representative could not be reached.
The case is thought by Desert Ridge residents to be an indicator of whether developers can make an end run around the master plan for the area.
Neighborhood resident Claudia Garza said the court decision “is not good news.”
Gray plans to build 882 units in three sections of the parcel, while leaving the fourth vacant.
Judge Douglas Rayes of Maricopa County Superior Court backed Gray and the Board of Adjustment in a June 1 decision.
Desert Ridge residents are upset that a developer, which they say has circumvented the rules, appears to be getting its way on land at the heart of the master-planned community.
Gray Development, which paid $32 million for the 41-acre parcel in 2004, asked for and received four zoning variances on the property.
Northeast Phoenix Partners, the master planner for the area that is controlled by Thomas J. Klutznick Co., and the Desert Ridge Community Association, also controlled by Klutznick, filed suit and won.
Gray received permission for smaller garages, reduced internal landscaping, an additional story within the 48-foot building height and reduced setbacks.
“It is very disappointing,” said Nick Meris, vice chairman of the Desert Ridge Homeowners Network, a subsidiary to the community association.
Daniel Klutznick of the Thomas J. Klutznick Co. said the Desert Ridge Community Association is considering a court appeal.
“Community members are concerned about aesthetics, about how close to the street buildings can go,” said Klutznick, who is developing CityNorth east of Desert Ridge Marketplace, which when finished will have 1,500 residential units, apartments and condominiums.
Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Neely said the specific issue concerning the Desert Ridge groups is that Gray is planning to concentrate its permitted 882 units on a portion of the property, leaving several acres empty on the Marriott Drive side, on the east side of the property.
Residents say they fear Gray will seek even more units there at a later date.
Residents and Klutznick wanted the units spread across the entire 32 acres.
“Gray has shown blatant disregard for how the plan is written,” said Claudia Garza, a Desert Ridge resident who has watched the issue closely. “I met with them, and their position was, ‘This is what we want and you should support it.’
“So many developers have purchased land, or will,” Garza said. “If Gray sets a new standard, we will get the short end of the stick.”
Meris said Gray is simply doing as it pleases and persuaded both the city’s Board of Adjustment and a judge to go along.
“It’s just not right,” Meris said. “They are changing things around the way they want.”
Andrew Holm, ABR Sterling Fine Homes & Land
The Holm Group Office: 480-767-2738 Cell: 480-206-4265
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