Sierra Vista News: Fri., July 14, 2006
Tribute plan takes big step forward
SIERRA VISTA — After 18 months of scrutiny and tinkering, Castle & Cooke's 2,000-acre neighborhood development proposal Tribute was unanimously approved Thursday by City Council.
An amendment to a development agreement still binding between the city and the previous landowner, Tenneco, also was unanimously approved, effectively providing the city with management rights of effluent water treatment and distribution in the Tribute area. All water companies in this area are privately owned, so this technically brings the city into the water business.
The Tribute specific plan approved Thursday is an overall land-use description for the development on the east side of Sierra Vista, which will include commercial and residential projects. Further council approval of the various phases of Tribute will be required, though the land uses are now set by the large-scale specific plan.
Tom Heckendorn, executive director of the Southeastern Arizona Contractors Association, also took the podium in support of the council's approval of the Tribute proposal, as did local contractor Mike Rutherford.
“You're not going to be able to stop the people from coming into the Sierra Vista area,” Rutherford said to the council. “If we shut this down or we didn't allow them to be built, the only option people would have is to go into the county with the four-acre splits.”
Full story: http://www.svherald.com/articles/2006/07/14/local_news/news1.txt