PARADISE VALLEY – A referendum targeting the recently approved Ritz-Carlton, Paradise Valley Resort is in circulation.
A citizens group called Preserve Our Paradise, would need 314 valid signatures of registered town voters to place the referendum on an upcoming ballot.
The group has until 5 p.m. May 12 to submit the signatures to Town Clerk Duncan Miller
On April 10, the Paradise Valley Town Council unanimously approved the mixed-use project.
It includes a 225-room Ritz-Carlton resort hotel, plus 15 1-acre home sites, 46 detached luxury homes on approximately half-acre lots and 100 patio homes, housed two to a building.Scottsdale-based Five Star Development owns the currently vacant 105-acre Ritz-Carlton site northwest of Scottsdale Road and Lincoln Drive.
POP officials said the group is not opposed to construction of a resort, but is opposed to what it deems as its high-density residential components, most specifically 100 patio homes of 8 units to an acre.
POP believes those units are akin to condominiums and not in keeping with the town’s traditional residential zoning of one house per acre.
It also believes the patio homes will increase traffic, air pollution, strain water resources, and detract from mountain views.
POP co-founder Mel Kowal said a number of people have stepped up to collect petition signatures and because of that, there may not be a need to hire professional petition circulators.
He declined to reveal how many signatures have been collected so far, but said the drive is well on its way.
POP is collecting signatures from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday outside the Paradise Valley Police Department, 6433 E. Lincoln Drive.
If the signatures are declared valid, the earliest a referendum vote could be held is the Nov. 4 presidential election.
The project could not proceed until the referendum is decided.
POP is using the expertise of a Scottsdale citizens group called Height and Density, which has collected signatures for a referendum on the Hanover apartment project planned for downtown Scottsdale. Those signatures have been challenged by the project’s developer and a hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court is set for Thursday on their validity.
If HAD’s referendum drive survives the court challenge, Scottsdale voters would decide on Sept. 2 if the Scottsdale City Council-approved 230-unit development for Goldwater Boulevard and Indian School Road is too dense and too tall for downtown Scottsdale
