Tucson Weekly: Town Limits (August 14

Tortolita As A Whole May Be Divided Into Three Parts
By Emil Franzi
THE STEERING Committee to incorporate a new town of Tortolita has found its plans sabotaged by an alliance of vacant land owners and the town staffs of Oro Valley and Marana.
It's no secret that Tortolita would be a community that sincerely cares about the desert, with a town council leery of rezoning property for high-density development. The 22-square-mile area, sandwiched between Oro Valley and Marana, has the overwhelming support of its residents. We hope to secure the signatures of two-thirds of our registered voters, thus bypassing the need for an incorporation election.
But while incorporations are based on the will of the voters, annexations aren't--they're based on who owns the land. Since we filed our incorporation map, there have been a flurry of annexation requests by vacant landowners to get out of our borders and become part of Marana and Oro Valley. These requests are being fast-tracked by both towns, and the net result of Oro Valley's annexations would cut Tortolita into three parts and negate its incorporation during the period when those signatures are being verified and while Pima County is waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit by the City of Tucson challenging the 1996 statute that allowed new incorporations.
Currents Gerrymandered annexations favoring land speculators are nothing new--they're standard procedure in growth-happy Marana. But Marana officials' latest trick hit a new low even for them.
After several residents in a proposed 1200-acre hunk on Tortolita's western border told Marana council members in June they didn't want to be part of that town, the council voted to table the annexation and redraw the map. Marana's decision to back off got considerable play on the front pages on the dailies in July.
But the day before the August 5 town meeting, the Marana staff put the exact same annexation back on the agenda, this time on the consent calendar. The council members either didn't notice, didn't care or were part of the sleazy plot. The item passed unanimously and the annexation was completed.
Several families who didn't want to live in Marana and had been told the annexation was on hold weren't even informed about the vote--they were simply conscripted by a corrupt town that doesn't keep its word and has proved once more that people don't count, only land speculators do.
There's only one recourse--the annexation ordinance will be brought to referendum, freezing it until Tortolita becomes a town or until the next election.
Marana's sleaze is no surprise. What has surprised us is the attitude of Oro Valley officials. Town Manager Chuck Sweet is running the drive, borrowing Marana's sleazy techniques as a role model.
Both Mayor Cheryl Skalsky and Vice-Mayor Paul Parisi have stated they have no objection to a Tortolita incorporation, yet both have voted to begin the process that would destroy Tortolita's viability. And everybody should wonder why land speculators consider Oro Valley a much softer touch when they need a rezoning.
There is nothing to gain for Oro Valley residents with these annexations: None will increase the town's tax base unless they plan to implement a property tax, and there are hardly any people involved, so there won't be any additional dollars from state revenue sharing.
But Oro Valley's costs for basic services--like roads and police protection--will increase, which doesn't do a lot for their current residents. That the Oro Valley land grab is motivated by a weird version of northside Manifest Destiny is clear in the oft-recited mantra of "the annexations comply with the town's overall plan." In other words, the presumputous bureaucrats who run Oro Valley have planned what will happen to places and people not even in their town. Oro Valley and Marana long ago arrogantly decided that Shannon Road would be the ultimate dividing line between the two communities. After the two towns grab all the vacant land and develop it, the remaining citizens will be surrounded and grabbed up--along with whatever ironwood trees and saguaros may be left.
Things had been relatively quiet and stable in Oro Valley, a town once known for volatile politics and annual recalls. We're incensed at what is clearly an attempt to screw us with broken commitments and another roll-over for land speculators. We expected it from Dogpatch, but thought Caddyshack had cleaned up its act.
"If they want to destroy our town, maybe it's time for us to start talking to folks in theirs," says Tortolita Chairman Lan Lester. "We believe most people in Oro Valley would like a low density buffer between them and Marana, and they get nothing out of more annexation except more responsibilities. And we also think that fairness and self-determination are things most people believe in. The OV Council and staff aren't representing their citizens--most people don't like hostile takeovers."
The latter can best be illustrated by the annexation of checkerboard patterns around people's homes, where Oro Valley plans to grab the road in front of the houses but not the houses themselves.
Skalsky is evasive about her position, claiming her recent vote only expedited the annexation process. She says she might oppose the final annexation plan if given enough reason. But just weeks ago, she told a meeting of Tortolita organizers she opposed the first annexation and would work against it. She ended up voting to expand it. We think giving us her word to allow our town to incorporate is a pretty good reason to oppose the proposed annexations, and Oro Valley folks should remember her campaign opposition to new annexations that do nothing for them.
While Parisi says the town will take in any people who want to be annexed, he ignores the fact that the proposed annexations involve not developed property, but raw land owned by folks who don't live there. To accommodate speculators, he's breaking his commitment to support Tortolita's efforts, and contradicting his other statements about wanting to prevent Oro Valley from assuming responsibility for more road maintenance in currently empty areas.
What's surprising is that Oro Valley isn't rolling over for any of the heavy hitters like David Mehl or the Wolfswinkel family, who usually play organ grinder to politician monkeys. They're taking care of mostly out-of-town and out-of-area speculators who look forward to a 7-Eleven or an apartment building on that 10 or 20 acres of "barren" desert they own. The Tucson Citizen reported Joel Abrams is leading the charge for 28 landowners who want to get into Oro Valley. This is the same Abrams who signed a consent decree at the State Department of Real Estate, paid a hefty fine, and had his license suspended for an illegal subdivision.
We suspect the big boys don't want a town around that might set an example for the rest of this valley on the growth issue.
The next step in the process is set for the August 20 town council meeting. The Tortolita folks will be looking for some people in Oro Valley to carry the fight against the annexations between now and then. Ironically, both Tucson and Pima County fought Oro Valley's original incorporation back in the '70s; it took a two-year court fight to establish that town.
Considering Tortolita's near unanimity and determination, land speculators had better not cross them off the map just yet.

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