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Citizens for a Rural Community addresses various concerns of the community which it feels are not being adequately handled by the Dewey-Humboldt governing body, primarily with respect to the will of the community itself and the preservation of a rural atmosphere.

Regardless of the particular issue at hand, we are disturbed to see what appears to be developer driven growth. This offers chaotic growth at best which is not necessarily in the better interest of the community. We believe that the growth process should be initiated by the community with its own concerns in mind and then executed by developers. Instead, we see what resembles developer initiated "growth" and execution with the town serving as merely a rubber stamp. This is not smart growth.


The Village at Young's Farm

At the moment, the proposed "Village at Young's Farm" resides at the top of our list of concerns. We realize that the preservation of a farm at the intersection of Routes 69 and 169 is not likely (at least not on the present scale) and most of us accept that it will be and must be developed to some extent. However, we find a number of characteristics about the planned development by Monogram to be counter to the growth of a rural community.

  1. Density - Of approximately 325 acres in the planned development, only about 180 acres will actually be populated with houses yet Monogram plans to squeeze 580 homes into this small an area. While we appreciate that there will be some designated open spaces on the remaining land, this does not negate the fact that the project would contain high density, suburban-like housing. High population density brings with it a number of ills that this community has specifically stated that it does not want to tolerate.

  2. Sewage Treatment - It would sound unlikely that we should have a problem with an on-site sewage treatment plant. What is somewhat less well known is that sewer systems are a blessing to developers of high density housing who have no other alternatives. We know that the planned treatment plant is intended to serve other parts of Dewey-Humboldt which at first might sound nice until you realize that it's expensive to hook into and ineffecient when serving sparsely situated houses. This means that it will either have to remain expensive or it will have to serve more high density housing and we do not want to open the door to that! Septic systems, on the other hand, are safe and would naturally limit the number of homes that could be built per acre to approximately the same density that we enjoy in the rest of Dewey-Humboldt. In this case, it would only allow approximately 150 new homes.

  3. Congestion - A natural consequence of high density housing is high traffic and that leads to congestion as well as more noise and any way you look at it, this inconviences the rest of us who live here. Sheer numbers of people and vehicles is just one measure but the problem is exacerbated when they are placed in one small spot. Prevention is the most effective solution.

  4. Urban Blight - We hate to think of it but suburbia brings with it an array of ills such as elevated crime and noise while displacing our dark skies, wildlife and "friendly neighbor" atmosphere. These are long-standing urban problems that we would all notice.

  5. Expensive Infrastructure - Suburban style housing demands certain infrastructure and is impossible without it, from water supply to sewage treatment to higher code streets, extra law enforcement, fire protection and the list goes on. What it costs to build is not as significant as the financial burden it places on the municipal budget. Suburban homes are a net loss of local monies due to their necessary overhead. By contrast, rural homes fare much better because overhead is assumed by the home owners and not the municipality which then requires far less commercial tax base.

  6. Urban Style Ordinances - Because urban and rural areas are inherently different, the necessary rule sets are not the same. However, with the injection of an urban sub-division, a rural area may find the passage of urban ordinances to which it may also be subject. This could lead to "sanitization" of a rural area that would favor an urban rather than rural lifestyle.


Considering the above points and others not mentioned, we feel that proposal for the "Village at Young's Farm" is simply not appropriate. We can appreciate the amount of work that went into it and although it might make a wonderful development in some other town like Anthem, it is not conducive to the kind of growth that the citizens of Dewey-Humboldt have repeatedly stated as their preference.

Coming soon, we'll have a page dedicated to the issues surrounding the Village at Young's Farm proposal complete with letters and essays pertaining to the various events as they have happened.


The Agua Fria Center

Right now not much known about the Agua Fria development plan. Brochures and meetings regarding the proposed 85 acre Agua Fria Center have given some basic information but what is most alarming about this plan is how it has flown in under the radar with minimal attention and how little the public is aware of it. Right now it is already being wisked before the Planning and Zoning Commission, possibly in the hopes of rapid approval without much public input.

Here's what we do know:

  • The Agua Fria Center would reside on 85 acres on the southeast corner of Route 69 and the Old Black Canyon highway, basically surrounding the American Legion and occupying much of the hillside down to Richard's Lane.

  • The Center would be primarily an "Anthem style" combination of commercial businesses such as outlet stores, offices and some residential area (and of course its own sewage treatment plant).

  • Current zoning would allow only about 50 single family homes assuming all 85 acres could be developed. We do know that the land does not perc so the actual number may be less. We do not know if there is adequate water supply as is claimed. The owner says it's there, the locals say it isn't.

  • The "developer" is Dennis R. Roberts (a resident of California) who claims to have significant experience with developments like this but so far no evidence of that has found its way to CRC and a search of Yavapai County recorded documents reveals only land brokering in his local history.


Beyond the preceeding, we have little else to say until more is known but appearances point to rezoning for resale purposes. The land was purchased in 2004 for approximately $1 million and if rezoned could command perhaps 10 or 15 times that amount of money.


Copyright 2006, Citizens for a Rural Community