Carefree is currently in a 60-day feedback window for a new General Plan, ending 12/1/2023. Residents are encouraged by the Town to review and comment. The finalized General Plan will be either approved or rejected by public vote on November 5, 2024.
The current Town of Carefree General Plan is General Plan 2030, approved by Carefree residents on November 6, 2012. It will remain in force until and unless a new plan is approved. General Plans are required by state law (A.R.S. 9-461.05) for certain towns and municipalities, and their purpose is defined in statute.
From General Plan 2030:
Purpose of the General Plan
Arizona State law requires each city or town to adopt a General Plan. The General Plan is often referred to as the blueprint to the community’s future. The Plan is a “general” policy document that guides community development decisions to provide a sense of order, coordination and quality to the Town’s policies and actions affecting growth. The Plan includes goals, objectives and recommendations to guide the land use, circulation network, open space preservation and other public facilities and services.
The General Plan is updated approximately every ten years. The current draft is 85 pages, and while we encourage residents to participate in the feedback process, we recognize that doing so may be a daunting task. If you want an outline to guide your review you can see one by clicking here.
Various residents and groups have been widely communicating specific feedback on certain plan elements, which is very much welcomed. However, we make some contextual comments about some of these comments below, and will share our own feedback where appropriate:
1. Development of the two SPA areas: NW corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington, and NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road: Goal SC-10 (page 77) currently details the goals for developing the Town’s two Special Planning Areas (SPA). Many residents have received emails suggesting these areas should have separate plans, with development on Carefree Highway encouraged near Cave Creek Road and discouraged near Tom Darlington.
Specific language to achieve this differential has been suggested, supported by misleading statements that imply one or more high structures could be built near Tom Darlington, or that the NW corner parcel is disadvantaged by lack of existing infrastructure (not true).
The Town has projected declining revenues over the next ten years, and there are only three viable locations of significant size (these two corners plus Town Center redevelopment) available for future development, which is the primary basis for additional sales tax generation. Also, although the Town can influence or regulate development, it does not initiate development proposals; landowners do. Discouraging one of them from development would significantly lower the chances of making up for the projected drop in revenue elsewhere, and our residents have recently shown they are not anxious to approve a property tax to fund public services. We recommend any comments you make in this section should refer to both corners equally, or that you specifically say you agree to SC-10 as written.
2. Commitment to Carefree Park: Carefree Park is a new local effort to purchase and develop 48 acres of state land south of the airport between Cave Creek Road and Stagecoach, from Mule Train to a residential development on the east. Emails have recently advocated for specific preservation language in the General Plan for this parcel. Carefree Unity supports the use of private contributions to purchase and develop this land as long as the process is transparent and accountable, but some factors relevant to consideration of the Carefree Park initiative are currently missing from the public discussion and should be understood by residents.
· The state land parcel must be bought at auction, at a minimum price of $7 Million, with additional costs for development and maintenance after purchase.
· Plans should be more widely disclosed. If successful, who will be the owner and what will be the sustainable management arrangement? If unsuccessful, what will happen to the money raised?
· What alternatives to the development of these 48 acres are available?
Regarding alternatives, we first note that the 48 acres is surrounded by homes and the Carefree Sky Ranch airport and for most of the year has no water, factors that limit its value as a habitat for local flora and fauna. In north Carefree the Town and the Desert Foothills Land Trust have already partnered to purchase 40 acres for the Carefree Heritage Preserve, and the Land Trust controls additional parcels of 20 acres and 100 acres nearby. The cooperative planning effort seeks to eventually incorporate these holdings within a much larger preserve that could become an open space area similar to the Cave Creek Regional Park or Spur Cross Conservation Area. If efforts to expand the Preserve are ultimately realized, the area will include the most significant archeological resources in the community, will provide migration routes for all fauna visiting the park, will harbor the most significant riparian habitat in the community, and showcase spectacular stands of saguaros.
For the same $7-10 Million that would be required to purchase, develop and maintain the 48-acre state land, the proposed regional park might be extended to 300-500 acres, be made accessible to the public, be fully developed for the benefit of residents and be maintained in perpetuity by the Desert Foothills Land Trust for the benefit of Carefree.
Because there are alternative uses for open space contributions, we suggest that comments in support of open space in Carefree be kept general so that the community will remain free to explore the most effective paths.
3. Increased oversight for the Carefree Water Company: Though recommendations for General Plan language that would alter the governance structure of the Carefree Water Company have been widely distributed by activists, the General Plan is not the appropriate vehicle for addressing governance issues, and its text cannot override municipal or state statutes. The structure of the Utilities Community Facilities District that owns the Water Company was set in 1998 in accordance with state statutes governing Community Facilities Districts, and like other governance standards (selection of mayor, number of Council members, structure, membership and selection of Boards and Commissions) it has not been addressed in any of Carefree’s previous four General Plans adopted since 1988.
4. Language concerning residential development above downtown retail shops: The General Plan includes some aspirational language encouraging residential units above the commercial shops in the Town Center, but some activists have recommended banning such use. Residential above retail in the Town Center is an entitled use through zoning and does not rely on permitting through the General Plan. There would also be legal implications to recommending such a prohibition, and the appropriate venue for discussion is the Planning and Zoning Commission, not the General Plan feedback process.
It is valuable for the Town to get reliable feedback from residents in the General Plan process, but it is also very difficult. The issues involved can be complicated and confusing: the General Plan draft document itself is very long and complex, and the effort required by residents is considerable. In addition, there are always single or limited-issue activists who attempt to flood the feedback channels with comments in favor of specific actions on specific or narrow issues. We suggest careful examination of all unsolicited advocacy positions of this type, which generally are written to be persuasive rather than to be fair and accurate (if you would like an outline of the draft Plan to help you review the document, please click here).
If you have a specific concern or desire that is your own, please communicate it. If you simply feel that it’s too difficult to go through the entire document, or that you would rather leave it up to the government officials that you helped elect to do the best that they can for Carefree, that would be valuable input as well.
Carefree Unity 10/30/23
Click here for a review guide of the Town of Carefree Draft General Plan
Carefree Unity 