Higley prepares bond vote
Gilbert in big tourney
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS. .............................. 6 GOP lawmakers rap local legislator on jobless pay.
COMMUNITY......... 13 Gilbert businesswoman pens new romance novel.
Expert sees Valley office glut looming.
COMMUNITY........................................13 BUSINESS............................................. 18 SPORTS.................................................. 22 GETOUT................................................. 25 PUZZLE.................................................. 27 CLASSIFIED..........................................28
See Page 9
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Study: Cactus Yards a home run for local economy BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
C
actus Yards’ first year under the town’s control brought in $2.9 million in direct spending to Gilbert, thanks largely to youth sports, an Arizona State University study found. The study, developed jointly with the town tourism and recreation staff, provides data and insight into how tournament visitors are using Gilbert businesses, restaurants and hotels during promoter-run tournaments at the sports facility near Elliot and Power roads.
“Embrace the people coming to your town,” ASU’s Dr. Eric Legg told the Parks and Recreation Board at its June 8 meeting. “They spend money and they might move here.” Gilbert re-opened the facility, formerly dubbed Big League Dreams, on Feb. 9, 2019 with its new moniker. It had been closed for nearly two years for major repairs after Gilbert took back management of the townowned venue that features scaled-down replicas of eight major pro baseball fields. Some 93,000 players participated in the 50 events, mostly youth tournaments, hosted at Cactus Yards from February 2019 to
February 2020, according to the study. “It’s a good chunk of people coming into Gilbert that otherwise would not,” Legg said, adding almost 90,000 players were not from Gilbert. Altogether Cactus Yards logged 127,000 admissions, which included the players and coaches, according to Legg. The bulk of the players came from California, he said, adding he expected a larger increase from that state last year during the pandemic because of the shutdown over there.
The place to be Gilbert man’s home helipad plan doesn’t fly with neighbors
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
BUSINESS................. 18
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
R
obert Horne wants to build a helipad in his backyard so he can take off to reach two parcels he owns deep in a national forest to check on his cows. Horne’s proposal to seek a conditional use permit for a 40’x40’ landing pad from the Town, however, isn’t flying with some of his neighbors in the Gilbert neighborhood of Sawyer Estates – horse properties with a minimum 2 acres
of land. “When I bought 21 years ago it was for the peace and quiet,” said Margie English, who lives five houses from Horne. “There are no street lights. I want to keep it rural.” English and a dozen other nearby residents voiced concerns about noise, impact to property values and safety during a neighborhood hosted by Horne last Wednesday on his front lawn. He also streamed the meeting live on Zoom, which at
see CHOPPER page 4
Greenfield Pool in Gilbert is a good place to put on your to-do list this week as the Valley braces for scorching temps. See page 10. (Pablo Robles/GSN Staff Photographer)
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