bike-ranch-plan

A proposed bicycle guest ranch on Tucson’s east side is being put on hold because of opposition from residents in the area.

Arizona Daily Star reporter, Mariana Dale, has been following the story and reported yesterday that the Bike Ranch owners, Kelley Matthews and Peter Lasher have decided to “regroup” in the face of fierce opposition to the plan.

Here’s a snippet from Dale’s article in the Star:

Kelley Matthews and Peter Lasher’s application for a conditional use permit was scheduled for a Pima County Board of Supervisor’s vote on Tuesday.

The permit was needed because the area is zoned for a specific type of residential housing and lies in the one-mile buffer zone around Saguaro National Park.

The county staff recommended denial of the permit, partly because of vocal public opposition.

“It just doesn’t make sense to demand a vote on Tuesday,” Matthews said. “I think we need some time to have a better approach.”

If the board were to vote down their permit application, they would have had to wait a year before reapplying, said their attorney, Larry Schubart.

Matthews and Lasher had been trying hard to overcome opposition to the plan, which would create a 50-unit resort catering to bicyclists near Saguaro Park East.

On the Bike Ranch website, they included economic, environmental and traffic impact studies to try to assuage the fears of residents in the area.

Check out Dale’s full story and the Bike Ranch site.

One thought on “Bike Ranch proposal put on hold”
  1. Frankly a bike ranch is the better alternative to a residential subdivision with subsequent barking dogs and stray cats any day! There already exists a nasty traffic problem in the area and some how that has been used as a rather poor argument against developing the bike ranch… what needs to happen (even if the ranch is not approved) is Pima County fixing the traffic problem by widening the road by two lanes and installing wildlife bridges or tunnels so the critters don’t get run over. I have also heard the light pollution card being played as an argument for not developing the ranch… jeez… the new Wal-Mart looks like a miniature U/A stadium! The entire valley is just one big light bulb. Maybe a better solution would be we all just turn off our porch lights for now and stop frequenting the Saguaro National Monument. I don’t blame the owners if they just go the residential subdivision route rather than the Bike Ranch… they will make a heck of a lot more money developing homes that’s for sure and Pima County would receive more tax dollars as well.

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