Still going strong at 50 PAGE 21
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................... 8 Famed EV racing school mired in debt.
COMMUNITY...............11 They loved a parade.
SPORTS. ........................... 17 Perry High football aims for title.
COMMUNITY..................11 BUSINESS.......................14 OPINION.........................16 SPORTS. ......................... 17 GETOUT. ........................ 21 CLASSIFIED. ................. 23
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
How EV turned bluer PAGE 7
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Heritage District businessman fights town over garage BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
A
David-and-Goliath fight is playing out in Gilbert’s Historic District between a businessman and the town. For 13 years Marc Barlow has run his commercial real estate business out of a building he bought on Gilbert Road and Hearne Way when it had sat vacant after a veterinary clinic closed shop. He also owns an adjacent vacant parcel east of his office building. “There was nothing down here,” said Barlow, who had served on the town’s Redevelopment Commission for 11 years. “It was me, Joe’s BBQ, Oregano’s and Liberty Market. Across the street was a trailer park.” Barlow was among the business owners
(Kimberly Carrillo/GSN Staff Photographer)
Marc Barlow says the garage the town is building in the Heritage District will hurt his nearby business.
who invest early in the town’s Historic District, designated a redevelopment area in 1989. Substantial growth has been occurring
every year in the district since 2007. Barlow said he sunk a considerable sum of money on improvements to the 24,000-square-foot building, including $30,000 for a monument sign. He also added five additional parking spots to the existing seven in order to get a loan and meet the town’s zoning requirement. Nearly 30 years later after Gilbert adopted its first redevelopment plan guiding revitalization in the Historic District, it is now a destination hot spot of trendy bars and restaurants. Downtown’s success, however, is coming at a cost for Barlow. Gilbert in August authorized eminent do-
see GARAGE page 3
Once again, Williams Field students aid the hungry BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA GSN Contributor
C
aring for their community – even folks they’ve never met – is the fall focus of students of Gilbert’s Williams Field High School. Of course, a little classroom competition never hurts. This month marks the eighth annual Williams Field Stuff the Bus Food Drive that last year totaled 13,000 pounds of nonperishable food items donated to the United Food Bank in Mesa. This year, the students collected more than 12,100 pounds of food items, piled them into extra-large boxes and placed them aboard a full-size Higley Unified School District bus that rumbled off to the United Food Bank’s main facility in west Mesa last Monday – followed by two other buses filled with stu-
South Tempe • 480-559-8025 1835 E. Elliot Rd. #101 Downtown Chandler • 480-559-8016 141 West Boston Street
BurstOfButterflies.com
(Pablo Robles/GSN Staff Photographer)
Williams Field High student Maxwell Delaney stacks boxes of food items in the school bus that rolled over to United Food Bank last Monday.
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dents of this year’s Stuff the Bus first-hour class competition. For the first time this year, four officers of the National Honor Society – which sponsors the school-wide event – also came along The honor society officers said the drive was important to the school – as well as themselves. Though all four officers spoke movingly about their compassion for those families and individuals who find themselves in dire circumstances anytime, but especially during the holidays, it was NHS secretary Ruth Nyagaka’s story that proved poignant even to her fellow officers. “I feel I’m paying it forward by participating in Stuff the Bus because I know how it Downtown was for my family,” she said. “IChandler feel honored 141 Boston Street I was able to receiveWest food from United Food
Chandler, AZ 85225
Chandler - Dec 1st Enjoy the afternoon painting with family & friends prior to the tree lighting & parade in Downtown Chandler
see STUFF page 4 480-559-8016