A local developer’s application to purchase 1,700 acres of land targeted by Scottsdale for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve threatens the city’s vision for a 36,400-acre swath of public open space.

Tempe-based Suncor Development Co. recently submitted an application to the State Land Department to purchase the land northeast of Happy Valley Road.

The land is currently used as northern trail heads, and it is planned to be a major access area to the preserve.

The parcel has not yet been appraised, however, State Land Commissioner Mark Winkleman said its value could be comparable to the 500-acre Desert Ridge parcel that sold for $135 million — or $270,000 an acre. An auction would not occur for about nine to 12 months, he said.

“Scottsdale has been extremely ambitious in its open space and I think that the financial realities are going to cause them to have to make some priorities at some point,” Winkleman said. “And if the city of Scottsdale deems this land one of their priorities, I assume they’ll show up and bid.”

While the city has the option to bid, it may not be able to afford the land. Through two voter-approved sales tax increases and four bonds, Scottsdale has collected only $193.6 million. The city currently owns about 16,000 acres.

“It’s going to take the entire (City) Council and a lot of consultation … to put together a strategy,” Mayor Mary Manross said. “All I know is all these lands are still in our preserve boundary and our goal is still to complete the preserve vision.”

Manross said she found out about the land application through a Suncor official who called the mayor to let her know of the plans.

She said she appreciated Suncor’s openness but expressed frustration at the land department’s “rush” to put this parcel up for auction.

“To have this occur right after the election, in the aftermath of the defeat of (Proposition) 106, before our community and council had a chance to get together and have a dialogue and figure out a new strategy, it’s a surprise,” Manross said. “I’m really disappointed.”

This will be the first auction of land targeted for preservation since voters rejected Proposition 106 on Nov. 7.

The initiative would have set aside 700,000 acres of trust land for preservation and reformed the policies of the land department.

However, the 1,700 acres Suncor applied to buy was not included among the parcels to be preserved under Prop. 106.

Winkleman said he held off on listing the land for a year but it is a “very valuable parcel” and had been highly sought after by developers.

The State Land Department’s mandate is to maximize profits, which go toward Arizona schools.

To initiate the land auction process, Winkleman said he approached Suncor to ask them to file an application.

Mike Johnson, Suncor executive director of acquisition and planning, said although they filed the application they aren’t sure at this point if they intend to bid on the property.

“It’s a wonderful location being in north Scottsdale,” he said. “But it’s certainly challenged by drainage issues and issues like that.”

If they did decide to bid on the property, Johnson said they intend to work with Scottsdale to balance conservation plans with any development.

“It’s a sensitive process going through it,” he said. “We work in collaboration with communities. That’s something that’s very important to this process and that is something that we do.”

Carla (her legal name), executive director of the Mc-Dowell Sonoran Conservancy, said she is upset that the land department is moving forward with the auction.

“There is plenty of other land in the arsenal that doesn’t have a citizen vote on it, that doesn’t have this extreme commitment and that is applicable for development,” she said. “Why move on this land?”

Source:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=80652&source=rss&38;dest=STY-80652