Here is the article from the Miner.
Here is why having a blog is fun. Now I get the chance to break it all down and respond to some of the comments that were made at the meeting.
Keep in mind that this meeting was for the P&Z to either recommend or deny the applicants request to change the land use designation for 168 acres of what could become very prime property if a number of things, still undetermined, fall into place. The applicant and the owner of the land is the City of Kingman.
I'm only going to address or respond to the comments that were made by the public that were in opposition of the applicant (City of Kingman).
First speaker for the anti-growthers was a former Mohave County worker in some capacity that talked about other commercial deals that did not happen out in the Golden Valley area some time ago. He rambled about wrongfully putting the cart before the horse and by the time he even made that point he was about 5 minutes past the alloted 3 minutes that each public comment was limited to.
The next speaker I believe is simply a concerned property owner. She is against the land use change because she fears the completion of an interchange would connect the street her property is on to an arteriole through-way to Haulapai Mountain road.
Penny Cross spoke as a resident of Seneca Street. Traffic on her street is already bad, she said, with big trucks speeding by creating a growing safety concern with small children in the neighborhood. She's concerned about the land value of her home, she said, and had she known this was going to be in the works when she moved here, she never would have chose to retire in Kingman.
"I don't feel confident that you're looking out for my welfare," Cross told the P&Z Commission, a statement that she said spoke to some of the Council as well.
Mrs. Cross happens to live in the sub-division named Hualapai Foothill Estates. She stated that she has lived in her home for about 4 years. According to public records her home was built in 2003 and is on 1.24 acres, I won't share the price she paid for the property and home. I will say this though, one of her neighbors recently sold their home that is similar in age and size for $180,000 more than Mrs. Cross paid for hers. She is not losing value on her property anytime soon.
I have been told that the street Mrs. Cross lives on was originally platted for a four lane road (it is currently a wide two lane road). However, I have not seen documentation as of yet.
Mrs. Cross could easily sell her property today depending on the condition of the home and property (her neighbor received and accepted an offer in 7 days). She would realize a substantial financial gain if she did.
The earliest the proposed interchange completion date is sometime late 2009. If this really is a concern for her as she says, there are options including moving to a location more suitable for her needs with less current traffic issues. Hualapai Foothills Estates will still be an area of Kingman in high demand by then, and in fact I believe it will draw even more interest from buyers if the access to the Interstate was improved.
Now onto the RAID presentation...
RAID member Harley Pettit gave the same presentation he offered at the first Commission hearing, basically a list of reasons why the voter-approved Rattlesnake Wash interchange would better suit the community.
He said that if the amendment were to pass and the zoning were to be changed, the city could see the equivalent of 34 Wal-Marts on its side of the freeway. On the north side, property owned by Vanderbilt Farms, LLC, of Tempe, the commercial area would allow for 41 Wal-Marts.
"We do not need 75 Wal-Marts," he said. But Pettit expressed his doubts about pulling in big box stores at all, given neither Target nor Costco, as examples, had even shown interest in Bullhead City or Lake Havasu City, which both have higher populations than Kingman.
These folks are nice people, the RAIDers. I have nothing personal against them, I simply disagree with them. I especially disagree with their math. 75 Wally Worlds?? Our local Super Wal-Mart sits on 23.33 acres of property and the building itself is 210,732 square foot in size. The store itself sits on nearly 5 acres and has over 18 acres of parking and access routes.
For 75 Super Wal-Marts you need approximately 1,725 acres of land. The owners of the north side (where commercial will most likely go in first) only have a bit over 200 acres which is room enough for 8 such retailers. Again, I've met the owners of the property and they seem like really smart business people... I don't think they have plans for 8 Super Wal-Marts stacked on top of each other for their project. Sorry Harley, your facts and figures are way off (wow, I've had to say the same thing to a different member of RAID as well on a different subject... there is a pattern emerging here).
Oh and Harley, are you sure about what you said about Target having no plans for Mohave County?? I'm fairly certain that my wife and I will be spending money at Target in BHC by next year. Kingman missing out once again on my sales tax dollars.
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