Sighs of relief came from many as the news spread.  As of Friday, Dennis Roberts has withdrawn his application for a zoning change which would have paved the way for the Agua Fria Center, a large business and retail complex to be built at 3rd Street and Hwy 69.  Citing "personal reasons," Roberts gave no other indications for the withdrawal.

  What this means for Dewey-Humboldt is a temporary reprieve.  Unless Roberts sells the land and moves on, we can expect him to return with a new plan of some kind.  After all, he has invested $1 million in the 85.6 acres and will assuredly seek a profit on that.  Nobody knows what the next plan will be but these are likely possibilities:

• Housing - With its current zoning (R1L-70), only about 50 site-built homes could be built on the 85.6 acres of land.  There are minor hurdles in that the land does not perc, a 100 year water supply would have to be demonstrated and the housing market is sluggish but Roberts could still turn this into a tidy profit.
  
  
• Land sale - By bringing in utilities and sub-dividing the land, lots could be sold and a profit still realized.
  
  
• Revamping of the Agua Fria Center plans - During its consideration before the Planning and Zoning Commission, several problems were found with the Agua Fria Center plan.  It is entirely possible that Roberts may re-work the plan to alleviate these issues and re-submit a new plan.
  
  
• Alternate plans - Another possibility is that a new and radically different plan will be proposed.  Instead of up-scale outlet malls, perhaps a golf course or even something useful to the town might be considered.
  
  

  Regardless of the speculation, one hope has emerged from several people:  Perhaps Dennis Roberts will take an interest in the town's General Plan process and look toward it for good clues as to how he can best utilize his land as a benefit to the people of Dewey-Humboldt as well as to himself.