Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 99

AU KHITIONS Friday, April 25, 1986 The Arizona Republic southeast Ahwatukee Guadalupe Tempo PUBLISHED MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY developer told to revise plans Joe Rodriguez of 1540 N. El Camino said the development would "obliterate all the natural desert landscaping" at the site. Rodriguez presented petitions to the commission signed by 50 people opposed to the development. The project would be developed on land owned by Jarrett Jarvis, a Phoenix attorney. It would include renovation of the historic two-story Eisendrath House, built in 1930 and the largest remaining and best-preserved Pueblo Revival-style dwelling in Tempe.

Jarvis told the commission that Club would be on a par with the exclusive Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles. But city planners and neighborhood residents found fault with several aspects of the proposal, including its size, density and abundance of tennis courts. The commission delayed action on the proposal until June 10 so Rosen can make revisions. Residents of Marlborough Park, a subdivision east of the site, said they are concerned about noise, lights and traffic problems. Chuck Balassa of 1430 N.

El story hotel should be reduced to two stories, and the development should be blended into the desert terrain. Overall, they recommended that Rosen reduce the project size by 40 to 50 percent. "From a business point of view, we can't cut it in half," Rosen said. He said he thought his proposal was "the right kind of project for the site. We are vitally interested in seeing this project go forward." However, he said he is willing to work on landscaping plans and to discuss the project with city staff and neighborhood residents.

he tried unsuccessfully to find an office complex for the site. He said the proposed resort hotel and health club would be "a good thing" for the city and the area. John Ristuccia of 453 E. Susan Lane said he would prefer a resort hotel at the site to a commercial development. City planners concluded that the project's 100 hotel rooms, 30 courts, two restaurants and required parking would create too intense a development.

They said the proposed four- Camino Drive told the commission that the development should have fewer hotel rooms and tennis courts. Plans Rosen submitted to the city call for 100 hotel suites and 14 outdoor tennis courts. There are 30 courts for tennis, racquetball, paddle tennis, squash, basketball and volleyball, some indoors, in the plans. Rosen argued that cars now using College Avenue generate more noise than the proposed outdoor tennis courts would and that street lighting is more intense than lights planned for the courts. By JERRY HICKEY Southeast Valley Bureau TEMPE The city's Planning and Zoning Commission has given a Phoenix developer more time to come up with an acceptable design for a proposed resort hotel on land adjacent to Papago Park.

Developer Sheldon Rosen wants the commission to approve a project on 9.3 acres at 1500 N. College Ave. Rosen told the commission Tuesday night that his proposed Park Papago Inn and Family Health Suzanne StarrRepublic Robert Junker says that crevices have crept under his home, causing cracks in one wall and the patio. He says the crevices reappear after he has filled them. Fiesta Mall gives up bid for expansion By MIKE PATTEN Southeast Valley Bureau MESA The owners of Fiesta Mall withdrew plans to expand the Valley's third-largest shopping center after the Mesa City Council refused to grant them another delay.

The mall expansion was proposed in August but was been delayed several times to give the Homart Development Co. of Chicago time to respond to the city's concerns about the size of the planned expansion. Homart twice reduced the size of the proposed expansion, and in January, the City Council gave Homart until April 21 to explain why its latest proposal would not increase area traffic and result in overcrowded parking at the mall. Homart's most recent proposal was to expand Fiesta Mall by 18.4 percent, adding 169,500 square feet of leasable space to the existing 921,046 square feet. The proposal involved converting the existing Dillard's store to additional mall space and building a new Dillard's on the southwestern edge of the existing store.

David Udall, a Mesa attorney representing Homart, told the council Monday that Homart has not been able to answer the questions about traffic and parking. He requested an additional 45 to 90 days for more study. Udall was opposed by attorneys representing the Wolfswinkel Development Group and Car-don Oil, both of which are constructing office buildings across the street from the mall, and object to increased traffic. The council voted 4-2 to refuse Homart's request for a new delay, and Udall withdrew the expansion request. Council members Cordon Driggs, Alton Riggs, Ross Farnsworth and Warren Steffey voted to refuse Homart more time.

Mayor Al Brooks and Dave Guthrie supported Homart. Council-woman Peggy Rubach was absent. Homart's withdrawal means that any new expansion plan would have to be heard first by the Planning and Zoning Commission, which twice rejected earlier expansion plans. Udall said Homart does not want to appear before the planning panel because the developer believes the commission is opposed to any expansion. "I don't think whatever we took there (to the commission) would meet with success," Udall said.

"That would be the ultimate exercise in futility." Fiesta Mall is on 120 acres bounded by the Superstition Freeway, Alma School Road, Long-more Road and Southern Avenue. The mall opened in 1979 and never has been expanded. In August, Homart proposed a 34.7 percent increase in leasable space, which would have expanded the mall to 1.2 million square feet. Metrocenter in Phoenix is the Valley's largest mall, with 1.3 million square feet. Chris-Town in Phoenix has 1.2 million square feet.

Brooks said that Fiesta Mall has been a valuable asset to Mesa and that Homart should be given more time. Other council members, however, said it would not be fair to those against the mall's expansion if the mall's owners did not have new information. Steffey said that for him to support a mall expansion, the developer would have to solve the parking and traffic concerns. He added that whatever Homart decides to do to solve those problems should first be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Builder files claim, says CAP pipes ruin dream home By VICKY HARKER Southeast Valley Bureau APACHE JUNCTION Every time it rains, the holes in Robert Junker's back yard get bigger some as deep as 100 feet and others as wide as 20 feet, he says.

Deep crevices have crept under his home, creating cracks in one wall and in his patio, which also is settling. Junker, who owns a construction business, claims his "dream home" was ruined by flooding caused by Central Arizona Project pipes near his land. He has filed a $450,000 damage claim with the federal government. Phoenix attorneys Michael Palumbo and Ron Junck filed the claim April 17 on behalf of Junker. The government has 30 days to accept or deny the claim.

If denied, legal proceedings would begin in the U.S. Court of Claims. The claim states that "inverse condemnation" of Junker's property occurred after CAP overshoot pipes were placed near his property in the summer of 1984. The pipes created flooding of his land on numerous occasions, rendering it and his home valueless, according to the claim. "He should be compensated as if the government condemned his property," Palumbo said.

Junker's problems started in July 1984. One night he fell asleep to the sound of rain in his "dream home" near Houston and Ironwood roads, which he had been building for three years. The next morning, he walked into his yard and was confronted with a ditch that ran 600 feet along his property. "It was about 8 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It must have happened during the storm the night before," Junker said.

Since then, every time it rains, the holes in his yard get wider and deeper. "After each time it rains, I have to fill them in to get my trucks across (for his construction business) and for the children's safety. "But they don't stay filled. If it floods, everything I did would be for nothing. They wash right out again." Junker, who bought the land about 12 years ago and lived in a mobile home before starting on his house, said he had no flooding problems until the U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation installed the overshoot pipes. Now when it rains, the pipes cause "millions" of gallons to pour onto his property, he said. Arizona State University geologist Troy Pewe has visited the area and said he believes that the placement of the pipes caused the flooding damage and settling of the house. Fritz Goreham, Bureau of Reclamation field solicitor, refused to comment on the claim Thursday. Soon after Junker discovered the ditch, he filed a claim for $150,000 with the Bureau of Reclamation for flood damage.

During that same month, about 500 other residents in Apache Junction and east Mesa filed flood-damage claims. According to hydrology studies ordered by the Maricopa County Flood Control District in August 1984, much of the flooding was aggravated by two large federal construction projects the Central Arizona Project Canal and the Signal Butte Floodway. The reclamation agency denied all claims, citing a federal statute that says if a flood is related to a flood-control project, the United States has immunity from damages. However, 286 residents received compensation from Wausau Insurance which was the carrier for one of the CAP contractors, Ball Ball Brosamer Inc. Wausau paid out $500,000 in claims.

An excess carrier, Mission Insurance of Los Angeles, handled any amount over that, said Jordan Ross, senior claims supervisor for Wausau. However, some complaints from residents in areas north of the CAP canal and south of Southern, where Junker lives, were rejected by insurance companies. The companies said the residents who filed the claims lived too far from the canal, Ross said. Although Junker also filed a claim, he said that the insurance company for the contractor that did work near his property was not held liable for the claim. When Junker's insurance company came out to view his property, it canceled his flood coverage, he said.

The tax assessor also paid Junker a visit. "Five people drove up from Florence and spent over an hour looking at my place. They devalued my property to zero and called it wasteland," he said. Meanwhile, his property continues to erode. "The Bureau (of Reclamation) has not put in a canal or any other means of diverting water from my property," Junker said.

But more than physical damage has resulted from the flooding, he said. "The house was more so for the kids than me. It took all my time and money, and I can't just go out and build another one. So the damage has kind of ruined me in a lot of different ways. "I think justice will prevail in this case.

That's the reason I keep going on day-to-day and month-to-month. "But the kids were counting on the house. You know how kids are. If they are told they are going to move to a new house well, they were really counting on it and were disappointed." Chandler rebuffs cut in 9-member planning panel could learn about planning by attending commission meetings. Ex officio members have been appointed by past mayors, but the position is not required by city ordinances.

The mayor said he discontinued the practice after "I heard a lot of complaints" from ex officio commissioners about attending the meetings without assurance of gaining full privileges later. Bill Brooks, who is not related to the mayor, said appointment of an ex officio member is not necessary The charges were leveled because the mayor endorsed Dunn's bid for the council and nominated him for the planning commission shortly after Coy Payne won re-election, beating Dunn in the March general election. Although the mayor was alone in voting to trim the commission, the council rejected a suggestion by Tibshraeny to establish an ex officio commission member. Tibshraeny described the post as "free on-the-job training" for the city, because the ex officio member Mayor Brooks, at a recent council retreat, said he was "keeping my options open" on commission nominations. Under the city charter, the mayor makes nominations and the council votes on them.

The council's rejection in March of Boyd Dunn, Brooks' nominee to fill Tibshraeny's seat, was one of the most divisive issues the council has faced in the past year. Council members have said Dunn's nomination was defeated because it appeared to be motivated by political favoritism. By JIM WALSH Southeast Valley Bureau CHANDLER An attempt to trim two seats from the Planning and Zoning Commission failed Thursday when the City Council voted to maintain the board's nine-member structure. Mayor Jerry Brooks was the only council member to vote for cutting the commission to seven members. "Overall, I think a seven-member board would be more effective, but it's not a big deal with me," Brooks said.

"I don't want (the commission) to think it was directed at any particular individuals." The reduction in the panel's membership was recommended by Planning and Development Director Phil Testa, who said it would improve efficiency. The terms of two commission members, Chairman Bill Brooks and Jim Medis, will expire in May. One seat has been vacant since Jay Tibshraeny, a commissioner for six years, assumed the council seat he won in the Jan. 21 primary election. for the commission to operate, even though he estimated it takes two years for commissioners to learn city planning practices.

He said eight experienced commissioners can compensate for an inexperienced commissioner. Because of the panel's workload, an ex officio member would have become more important if the commission's size had been reduced to seven members, he added. The commission had voted unanimously to recommend retaining its nine-member form. I i.