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LIBRARY RETURNED
Ahwatukee Foothills News
Good Samaritan finds, returns 6-year-old girl’s stolen library. p13
‘Urban ag’ theme proposal unveiled
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016 Today: High 102, Low 83, Partially Cloudy Tomorrow: High 104, Low 84, Partially Cloudy
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PHOTO ESSAY Kyrene students meet their new teacher. p26
NEW SERIES
5-DIAMOND NEIGHBOR The state’s top chef works next door to Ahwatukee. p47
(Special to AFN)
AFN begins looking at Ahwatukee’s oldest businesses. p41
The heart of the development proposal is the farmers market and Montessori Desert Garden Montessori school on 10 acres of the 101-acre site.
Former golf course would be ‘Ahwatukee Farms’ development AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS EXCLUSIVE By Lee Shappell AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS MANAGING EDITOR
STATE CHAMPS Ahwatukee Little Leaguers run the tournament table. p53 Neighborhood p3 Around AF p4 Community p15 Opinion p22
Faith p30 GetOut p32 Sports/Rec p37 Classified p41
The True Life Companies, which last summer bought the closed Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club, today unveiled plans for transforming its brownedout fairways and empty lakes into “Ahwatukee Farms.” The project calls for a maximum average of three single-family homes per acre on the 101acre site, which would also include community gardens, a farmers’ market and café, two lakes to mitigate drainage and flooding, multi-use trails, open green spaces and pocket parks, and a private Montessori school. “We hope to provide an amenity to the greater community of Ahwatukee,” said David N. Sabow, managing director for True Life’s Arizona operations. “Community-supported agriculture is a popular, emerging trend throughout the
country. It really speaks to the sense of community, provides for healthy living, healthy lifestyle, and promotes central gathering places. “It just has a really good feel and I think it’s perfect for Ahwatukee.” The property has been a source of contention since former owner Wilson Gee closed the 35-yearold, executive-length golf course in May 2013, saying it was losing money and no longer was viable for golf. The site quickly became an eyesore as watering of the grounds ceased, weeds sprouted, trees died and the lakes were drained, leaving at times a stench while Gee sought a buyer. “We have spent the better part of the past 14 months conceiving a plan that is special,” Sabow said. “Our goal was to breathe some fresh air into Ahwatukee. In contemplating how we achieve that, >> See AHWATUKEE FARMS on page 6
More Inside • From freeways to gardens, a history. p. 6 • Arson suspected, unproven in clubhouse fire. p. 12 • Lakes resident/True Life executive speaks out. p. 39 • The vision in renderings. p.6-8