Following impassioned pleas from opponents, a proposal to develop a historic guest ranch again failed to pass the Marana Town Council on Tuesday, by a margin of 5-2.
Patti Comerford and Carol McGorray voted against the rezoning and development proposal, which would have needed a supermajority β or six votes in support β to pass the seven-member council.
Developer Mattamy Homes and property owners Jim Shiner and Peter Evans want to turn the now-closed Lazy K Bar Guest Ranch into a gated community, with 178 homes on the 138-acre site. In October, the council first rejected the rezoning by a vote of 5-1, with one member absent and Comerford the lone βnayβ vote.
The defeat came just hours after developer Mattamy hammered out a compromise with the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, which previously opposed the development. The compromise included a 300-foot buffer on the western edge of the parcel, to decrease overlap with a critical wildlife corridor there, but the proposal plan contained 178 homes.
A number of neighbors and conservationists β including Friends of Saguaro National Park and officials with the national park β said at the meeting the compromise didnβt go nearly far enough to protect the wildlife and fragile desert habitat on the site, located one-half mile north of Saguaro National Park West, near North Silverbell and West Twin Peaks roads.
Before the vote, park superintendent Darla Sidles told council members the park should have been included in compromise efforts.
Even Comerford was surprised by the outcome.
βI donβt think thereβs any predicting these sevenβ council members, she said on Tuesday night.
