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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS............................... 3 AMSAF awarded $50K for state’s helmet assistance program
NEWS................................... 4 Foothills Food Bank seeks help through food drives
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Pita Jungle taking extra health precautions in light of COVID-19
OPINION...................................5
BUSINESS.............................. 10 ARTS......................................... 11 DINING....................................13
CLASSIFIEDS....................... 14
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Cave Creek resort and casitas application denied BY SARAH DONAHUE Foothills Focus Staff Writer
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ave Creek residents rallied together to fight for the town’s priorities: dark, starry skies and open rural desert— not a cluster of “casitas.” “The rural commitment to our community is broken,” said resident Mary Leo in a written comment read during the planning commission Zoom meeting on August 20. “No way is Cave Creek a place for city dwellers and destroying a horse-friendly and rural lifestyle space.” The Cave Creek Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the recommendation of approval to amend the land-use map that would allow the development of Cave Creek Resort and Casitas. The proposed land lies between North Basin and North
Schoolhouse roads, totaling approximately 18.41 acres on three parcels of land, according to the agenda. The applicant, Bob Kite, a Cave Creek developer, sought to change desert rural land near Galloway Wash to a combination of open space and commercial use for the resort and casitas concept with a wellness retreat and spa. Kite proposed building 69 rental housing units and changed the proposal to an estimated 20 to 22 units after a neighborhood meeting was held on July 14. Residents voiced “fundamental flaws” in the request, including concerns about traffic, noise and light pollution as well as the FEMA floodway in close proximity. Jim Loftis and Jeff Dunn, partners in the development, presented the concept to the planning commission members on Zoom.
“We heard the neighbors and our community members loud and clear,” Dunn said. “We obviously became too aggressive in the original thought and plan.” In their presentation, Dunn assured that if the application was approved, much of the land would remain an open desert landscape. However, Commissioner Ron Sova said the math doesn’t add up. The number of units they estimated is not in accordance with their presentation’s images and their approximate acre value was not precise on the amount of land that would be open space versus high-density housing. Vice Chairman Paul Eelkema described the proposed land as “a natural break” between residential and commercial proper-
see RESORT page 2
Cactus Shadows’ new principal believes in transparency BY ANNIKA TOMLIN Foothills Focus Staff Writer
DINING......................... 13
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s Cactus Shadows High School’s new principal, Tony Vining wants to instill the three Cs—connections, communication and consistency—to continue the facility’s successes. “We have to build connections with administrators, the parents, the teachers and the students to my classified staff and to the community members,” Vining said. “We all have to figure out how to build those relationships. If we don’t, we are not going to be successful. We are not going to be able to work together.” Communication is critical, as is being transparent and upfront with school news. He added it is crucial to have those conversations to be able to grow.
Tony Vining is Cactus Shadows High School’s new principal. (Submitted photo)
“Consistency with messaging students and teachers about performance has to be there,” Vining said. “It can’t just be there at the start and then you kind of wane and then it disappears. To be successful, we have to have consistency in our approach.” Born in Montana, Vining has spent his 23year career in Arizona. Teaching runs in his family, as his father was an educator. “Oftentimes, I was on campus and he would move around as a teacher and a coach,” he said. The family moved to Arizona when he was 12. “It just seemed that I should be giving back, after what I was exposed to with my father, and then I was impacted so positively by coaches and teachers I had in high school,” said Vining,
see PRINCIPAL page 3