News and observations compiled by the Tribune's Gilbert reporters and editors
January 5th, 2009, 12:49 pm by Blake Herzog
Gilbert residents are invited to participate in a charrette, which is a sort of roundtable design discussion among stakeholders, to help design the parking structure planned to be built just west of Gilbert Road on Ash Street, to serve the Heritage District. The garage is slated to be four stories tall and hold about 350 vehicles, and will be surrounded by landscaping.
The meeting will begin 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Heritage Annex building at 119 N. Gilbert Road. People planning to attend should contact Helga Stafford at (480) 503-6767 or helgas@ci.gilbert.az.us.
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December 22nd, 2008, 4:24 pm by Blake Herzog
Gilbert’s annual Chrismas tree recycling program, which typically yields about 11,000 pounds of mulch for town landscaping projects, will gear up again the day after Christmas. A majority of residents recycle their trees, rather than place them on the curb for refuse pickup. Trees can be dropped off from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 at:
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Hetchler Park, at Greenfield and Germann roads
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Nichols Park, at Higley and Guadalupe roads.
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A to Z Rentals, 1313 E. Baseline Road.
Living trees can also be donated to the town for planting in parks and open spaces across the community. Residents can schedule an appointment to have their tree picked up by calling (480) 503-6274, or trees can be can dropped off at the Parks Maintenance Facility, 658 N. Freestone Parkway, on Monday through Friday. Living trees will be collected through Jan. 9.
Posted in: Government • Neighborhoods | Post a Comment »
December 17th, 2008, 6:11 pm by Blake Herzog
Gilbert’s seventh annual Mayor’s New Year’s Eve party will be held 8 p.m. to midnight Dec. 31 at the McQueen Park Activity Center, 510 N. Horne. The family-friendly event includes a band playing music from the 1960s and ‘70s, a center for “tweens” ages 5-12 sponsored by Brusnwick XL Bowling, and day care for younger kids. Admission is $5 per family or $2 per person, and food will be available for purchase. The event is alcohol- and tobacco-free.
About 1,000 people went to last year’s party at the McQueen Park center, doubling the attendance over the year before. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center is the main sponsor of this year’s event, which as in past years is funded entirely by private donations.
Volunteers age 14 and older are welcome. For more information about volunteering or the event itself call (480) 503-6200
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December 3rd, 2008, 12:59 pm by Blake Herzog
The Gilbert Town Council gave unanimous approval Tuesday night to all three phases planned for St Mary Magdalene Catholic Church, planned for the northeast corner of Williams Field Road and Parkcrest Drive.
Last month the town’s planning commission approved the first two planned phases of the church, which required a conditional use permit to proceed. The parish would have had to return for an additional hearing before building a K-8 school, something church officials expect will happen about seven to 10 years down the road.
Neighbors already contending with traffic from a nearby Mormon church said at both hearings they did not oppose the church building there but were concerned about the additional vehicles that St Mary Magdelene’s would bring to Parkcrest, the street most of them use to get in and out of their homes.
Town Councilwoman Linda Abbott triggered the council hearing by appealing the commission’s decision on the permit, explaining she wasn’t opposed to the church building there but wanted the council to take more responsibility for how traffic circulation in the area had changed since its acccess to Greenfield Road had been closed off, after the Loop 202 freeway was built through.
Council members expressed particular concern over how the opening of a school would affect traffic in the area, but in the end concluded the church and town were taking the right measures to handle traffic, and the local officials who helped create the situation in the first place would be taking the calls in any case, rather than church leaders.
Posted in: Government • Neighborhoods • Catholic • Church • Gilbert | Post a Comment »
November 30th, 2008, 12:00 pm by Blake Herzog
The Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Task Force has scheduled two “foreclosure survival” events for the East Valley, including one 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 13 at Gilbert Town Hall, 50 E. Civic Center Drive. Topics to be covered and include: the options to foreclosure and the foreclosure process, how to create a “crisis budget,” and how neighborhoods can work through the issues they face due to foreclosures. One-on-one counseling will be available for families facing a foreclosure, as well as information on where to get help when facing economic challenges and how to get help when someone has lost a job.
The Leadership Centre is co-sponsoring the event in partnership with the municipalities of Mesa, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Apache Junction. For more information visit www.theleadershipcentre.org.
Posted in: Government • Neighborhoods | Post a Comment »
November 29th, 2008, 12:00 pm by Blake Herzog
Gilbert’s Higley Park neighborhood near Higley and Ray roads has been awarded the first community grant from the Arizona Association of Community Managers’ Homeowners Outreach Program Enterprise program, which aids homeowners and communities in financial distress.
The grant will be used during a Dec. 6 cleanup, from 7 a.m. to noon, in which hundreds of community residents, church volunteers, Boy Scouts and others are expected to help clear out weeds and landscaping the neighborhood.
Higley Park residents, who have tried to maintain their common areas since its builder went belly-up before the project was completed, won the “Neighborhood of the Year” award at the recent Gilbert Community Excellence Awards ceremony.
The association’s HOPE grant program has given out $31,000 since 2005. The actual value of the Higley Park grant will be determined after the event, by how much time and monetary assistance is required.
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November 28th, 2008, 6:26 pm by Blake Herzog
The Gilbert Town Council has two controversial zoning issues for its 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting:
• The Pecos-Mercy general plan amendment, involving 98 acres near Pecos and Greenfield roads, just east of Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. The property owners are seeking a change to office and commercial classifications which would allow research centers and medical offices to be built. Some nearby residents have objected to building heights and overall densities proposed on the site, though the developers have made some concessions which appeased some of their concerns.
Others are objecting to the idea of an 8-acre shopping center on the corner of Pecos and Greenfield roads, arguing the town already has too much commercial space and that it isn’t compatible with other planned buildings at the intersection, which include a Mormon temple.
• A minor general plan amendment for the Bridges planned development at Higley and Ocotillo roads. The developer is seeking permission to increase the density for two areas set aside for apartments or condominiums. One reason the developer wants to proceed is that there are no immediate neighbors around to object to the idea, but Town Council members and other residents concerned about the number of apartments already built and approved in Gilbert have raised objection. The Planning Commission has recommended approval of the change on one of the parcels involved and denial on the second.
Also, the council will accept the resignation of Gilbert Planning Commission member and Highland Justice of the Peace-elect Dan Dodge, who is stepping down after 17 years, in accordance with state laws which prohibit justices of the peace from holding positions on other boards.
The Town Council is scheduled to accept his letter of resignation at its Tuesday meeting. He officially steps down Jan. 1 and his current term ends June 1. The council will fill the vacancy next year as it interviews and selects applicants for numerous board openings.
Any Gilbert resident interested in serving on a town board can fill out an interest form on the town Web site.
Other topics on the agenda include a report on the possibility of a four-day workweek for some town employees, a conditional use permit for a Catholic church that wants to build in a neighborhood already unhappy with traffic levels from another church, a hearing on an ordinance which would allow for alcohol consumption in the Polar Ice rink located in Crossroads Park, an intergovernmental agreement with Mesa for fire dispatch services and the reallocation of $95,000 from a little-used rehabilitation program for landowners in the Sonora Town neighborhood.
Posted in: Government • Neighborhoods • Traffic | Post a Comment »
November 26th, 2008, 7:16 pm by Blake Herzog
Gilbert Town Councilman Don Skousen said Wednesday he has turned nominating petitions with 466 signatures in to the Town Clerk’s office to lock in his run for mayor, setting the stage for a much-anticipated three-way race between sitting or former council members in the March primary.
Mayor Steve Berman and former Councilman Dave Petersen turned in around 600 signatures each last week in order to get onto the ballot. It takes 240 valid signatures to qualify.
Both Skousen and Berman are finishing up their second terms in their current offices, with Skousen deciding this summer to challenge Berman for the job after previously saying he would retire from politics. Petersen served one term on the council, before he was defeated by Councilwoman Joan Krueger in 2005.
At least three more men have formed political committees to support a mayoral candidacy and could make the ballot if they turn enough signatures in by the Dec. 10 deadline: Eric Hurley, a GoDaddy service representative and college student; Adam Turner, senior manager of business development with the Arizona Cardinals; and recent entrant John Lewis, director of information technology for the Apollo Group.
No potential candidates for the two available Town Council seats had turned signatures in as of late Wednesday afternoon.
Posted in: Government • Politics | Post a Comment »
November 11th, 2008, 11:04 am by Blake Herzog
Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman and former Councilman Dave Petersen filed nominating petitions with the Town Clerk’s office Monday to run for mayor in next spring’s town elections. Candidates wanting to run for mayor or the two open council seats have a one-month window, which began Monday, to turn in at least 240 valid signatures to qualify them for the ballot.
Town Clerk Cathy Templeton said both men turned in more than the minimum number of required signatures, but did not know their exact totals. At least 13 Gilbert residents have formed political committees backing a run for mayor or Town Council, but Templeton said we shouldn’t expect additional candidates to come flooding in just yet: “Most of them will come in the last week.”
Petersen, who served one term on the council before being defeated by Councilwoman Joan Krueger four years ago, said he turned in more than 600 signatures, collected by about 15 volunteer circulators. “People were lining up to sign them,” he said.
A fiscal conservative and member of the John Birch Society, Petersen said he thinks he’s gotten support from a fairly broad cross-section of petition signers. “I’d say about half the people I talked know me and are familiar with what I’m about, and 40 percent want Berman out and 10 percent were oblivious to what’s going on in town,” he said.
Berman could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday morning.
Mayoral and council races which are not decided by a majority of the vote in the March 10 primary will go on to the May 19 general election for a runoff. According to a town report, Gilbert now has 96,629 registered voters, including 15,000 who have signed up since November 2007 and 30,000 who are on the permanent early voting list. These factors are expected to boost the cost of the election beyond the $240,000 that has been budgeted, the report said.
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November 6th, 2008, 5:22 pm by Blake Herzog
The Gilbert Planning Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday to increase density on one planned housing tract and 5-1 against it on another within the same development, reflecting the board’s mixed feelings on the plan.
The developers of the Bridges, a community planned for the northeast corner of Ocotillo and Higley roads, want to increase the allowed density on two pieces of land already zoned for multifamily housing, one on Higley and the other on Ocotillo, The only member of the public speaking on the project was Town Councilwoman Linda Abbott, who opposed both proposals.
In the end the board favored allowing up to 528 apartments, condos or congregate care units on the property on Higley on the grounds that it could handle a greater traffic load, and against letting them build up to 628 units on Ocotillo. Footage of Wednesday’s meeting can be found on this page, about halfway down.
The case goes to the Town Council next month.
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