A Preserve Born Out of a Devastating Loss
The closure of the Vistoso Golf Course in June 2018 affected 17 adjacent neighborhoods in Rancho Vistoso, one of the largest subdivisions in Oro Valley. I immediately joined a group to save the golf course (Save Vistoso), then I helped to start a group (Preserve Vistoso) to fight the owner who sought rezoning and development, and finally I resorted to seeking a solution (The Conservation Fund) that would not pick winners and losers. With Mike Ford of The Conservation Fund’s help, the compatible strengths of a willing community, a local government and an accomplished land acquisition nonprofit yielded a positive result. In the end, it took over two years with countless obstacles in what Mike Ford characterized as one of the most difficult land transactions of his 40-year career. We succeeded because the community, Town and The Conservation Fund formed an effective team in which I was honored to have had a leadership role.
From a Part-Time Municipal Pool to an Aquatic Center
When my daughters were on a year-round swim team, the Oro Valley Municipal Pool would close in November and reopen in February to “save money.” This caused the many families whose children competed in swimming to seek practice pools all over Tucson for three months and spend money outside of Oro Valley. With a little investigation of the pool’s water heating bills and a lesson in thermodynamics (from my NASA engineer husband) I learned that the Town was losing money by closing the pool. When I approached the Oro Valley Town Manager with this evidence, he opened the pool year-round! But that was only the beginning. I then worked with a town council member to make the argument that a renovation of the pool facility could allow Oro Valley to host multi-day regional and state USA Swimming meets and generate revenue for the Town. These efforts culminated in my request to Town Council for a feasibility study, and soon the Oro Valley Aquatic Center became a reality. My daughters then decided they wanted to move on from swimming so we never got to personally experience the new facility, but I would like to think that the many hours of hard work I put into this effort are my quiet legacy.
Town Council and Neighborhood Meetings
For the past six years I have either attended or watched most Town Council and Neighborhood meetings to stay informed on the issues affecting our community.
Oro Valley Marketplace
I wholeheartedly supported restricting the rezoning request for apartments to two and three stories when the property owner requested a 75-foot building barely 10 feet set back from Tangerine Road. Surveys conducted for the OV Path Forward General Plan reinforced the community’s desire to restrict building heights to two and three stories.
Avilla Rental Homes
The proposal to squeeze more than 88 homes adjacent to the Safeway shopping center and another 119 across Rancho Vistoso Boulevard between Woodburne Avenue and Tangerine Road was a bad plan that would have negatively affected several nearby communities and countless other Oro Valley residents that shop in that center. In addition to speaking at the neighborhood meetings, I helped gather signatures on a community petition opposing the rezoning.
OV Path Forward Meetings
This past year I attended and participated in most of the OV Path Forward meetings that created the new 10-year plan for the future of Oro Valley. You will soon have an opportunity to review and vote on this plan. During these meetings I strived to uphold what I believed the community wanted in the many surveys conducted to shape our future. Through my participation I learned that the majority of Oro Valley residents support public safety, more housing options, no buildings over two and three stories, the protection of viewsheds and the establishment of public gathering spaces.
