ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
‘AZ Creates!’
Rock Springs Café
PAGE 32
Serving the communities of Anthem, Black Canyon City, Carefree, Cave Creek, Desert Hills, New River, North Phoenix, Tramonto and Peoria
TheFoothillsFocus.com
INSIDE
This Week
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF CAVE CREEK)
NEWS..........................6
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
‘Sore thumb’ may bring housing, parking BY SARAH DONAHUE Foothills Focus Staff Writer
Foothills Caring Corps cancels golf tournament
PAGE 34
A
fter four failed attempts from other developers, the Cave Creek Town Council voted 5-2, approving an application to change a current land use designation near the town core from desert rural to commercial use. Council members Paul Diefenderfer and Kathryn Royer voted “no,” and the rest of the members voted “yes” during the October 19 town hall meeting, which was conducted in person and streamed online.
Cave Creek resident Paul Sharpe is the developer whose application received approval from the council. He voiced plans of possibly developing a mix of parking areas and affordable multifamily homes. The parcel he applied to change is approximately 5.54 acres of land and is located west of Vermeersch Road and south of Desert Awareness Park. “I have a pretty good understanding of multiresidential development and in Downtown Cave Creek—I’ve always been intrigued by this parcel,” Sharpe said while addressing the council.
Sharpe said he is an experienced developer and brought up how he was behind the redesign of Village at Surrey Hills in Cave Creek as well as the development of the Village of Carefree Conference Resort. He mentioned how Planning Director Luke Kautzman previously pointed out how this particular piece of land “sticks out like a sore thumb on a zoning map.” “In a sea of red, there’s this little white parcel that’s surrounded by town core commercial, and I believe that it’s an
see TOWN COUNCIL page 10
Outlets play home to 70-foot white fir in November
NEWS ..............12
Foothills Food Bank seeks Adopt-a-Family sponsors
BUSINESS .......26
Lectric eBikes opens Deer Valley showroom
OPINION.................... 18 BUSINESS.................. 25 FEATURES................. 28 YOUTH....................... 35 CLASSIFIEDS............. 37 Zone
I
BY VICTORIA STIBRIK Foothills Focus Staff Writer
A
rizona’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree will arrive at the Outlets at Anthem at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, November 5. This year’s tree will be 70 feet tall and 20 feet wide; weigh close to 4 tons once fully decorated with 1 1/2 miles of LED lights, 5,000 ornaments and bows; and be topped with a 3-foot-tall copper star. In other words, it’ll put your mother-inlaw’s artificial tree to shame. The tradition turns 19 years old this
see CHRISTMAS TREE page 4
Santa visits a previous year’s tree at the Outlets at Anthem. (Photo courtesy the Outlets at Anthem)