Think this over: A single property owner within our community is seeking to eliminate 6.6% of our open space. One property owner who will gain much...at the expense of 1600+ others who, in all probability, will lose.
Please read on!

The owners of Red Mountain Ranch Country Club have filed an initial application with the City of Mesa to amend the Community Development Master Plan (DMP) and rezone the 12+ acres of the golf course driving range. The owners' proposal is to remove the driving range/ practice faclity for the golf course and replace them with 41 homes. The parcel in question, (7B) is east of Redmont, across the street from the RMRCC clubhouse complex.

It could be you have never picked up a golf club in your life, or set foot on the driving range, but that open space, that green expanse and the views it offered, were among the first things you noticed when you were considering a new home here...And this will be the case for every prospective new home buyer to enter our community for years to come. Can we truly afford to lose this?

We believe that approval of the rezoning request and altering the DMP will have a negative impact on our community for the following reasons.

This truly beautiful open space and driving range/practice facility has been integral to our community for 25 years, and is currently protected as such by the DMP. If allowed to be destroyed, there are no alternatives - it will be gone forever.

The driving range is green and beautiful, offering unobstructed views from every direction. The area adds much to the first impression of anyone entering our community, as well as those driving down Redmont every day. With the proposed development, this ambiance and feel will be lost forever.

The Red Mountain Ranch golf course, designed by noted golf course architect Pete Dye, is a premier facility in the Valley, the centerpiece of our community, and has been a large factor in the decision of many to buy homes here. Golf courses of this quality always have equal quality practice and warm-up facilities. It would be highly unlikely that a private golf course that lacks these facilities would be attractive to prospective home buyers or new members.

Completion of this project will have negative consequences for the Red Mountain Ranch community, some unforseen and some obvious, such as a possible loss in property values for every resident.

If you will answer the questions below for yourselves, we believe you will want to get involved in stopping this project :

1. Is the change being proposed in your best personal interest?
2. Is the Loss of 6.6% of the existing RMR open space in the best interest of the community?
3. Is the owner's potential financial gain going to be off-set by the collective loss for existing
homeowners?

Here's what you can do to help protect our community. Here is a link to the list of contacts.

1. Contact your Red Mountain Ranch friends and neighbors by phone, e-mail or knocking on doors. Numbers Matter!

2. Your RMR Homeowners Association has solicited your opinion and input in a letter dated
August 18, 2009. Please do contact them. Click Here for contact information.

3. Attend the public meeting on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Red Mountain Ranch
Elementary School, 6650 East Raftriver. Information will be presented by the owners and their representatives and is naturally skewed to their point of view. No matter what is said at the meeting, approval of the applied-for changes is NOT a foregone conclusion. Please be courteous and remember that the results of this meeting will be relayed to city officials.

4. Attend the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 4:00 pm, City Council Chambers, 57 East First Street. Trust us, the number of attendees at these meetings matters a lot! If you wish to speak, or just register your opposition, you will need to fill out a blue card on the table at the door and submit it to the clerk.

5. Watch this web site and your e-mail for the date (possibly October 19) this matter will be voted on by the City Council. Plan to attend. City Council Chambers, 57 East First Street. As with the zoning board, the number of attendees at these meetings is crucial. If you wish to speak, or just register your opposition, you will need to fill out a blue card on the table at the door and submit it to the clerk.

6. Contact all members of the Mesa City Council and Mayor Smith. Our councilmember is Dina Higgins. Compose your e-mails or letters in your own words. (They don't give much weight to form letters - you'll find some talking points by clicking Here). Please be courteous, unthreatening and respectful. Let them know how this project will personally effect you, your community and the City. (Avoid the language they hear every day, such as complaints about additional noise, traffic and polution - any new development brings these issues and the city officials don't consider them to be problems in most cases).

7. Contact the Planning and Zoning department. The senior planner for this project is Jeffrey McVay.

8. For more information, or to volunteer to help in any way, please contact:
7. Cannon Randall, rmrdrivingrange@cox.net

Please continue to monitor this web site for any new developments