Since the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning (P&Z) commissioners voted 7-0 against the Daybreak apartment development, the developers and their supporters have gone to “social media” to drum up support for this project.
Their primary argument is the need for multifamily apartments to attract young residents to Fountain Hills. The following quote is from the “Friends of Daybreak” petition: “Daybreak is a luxury multifamily development planned for Palisades north of Shea. It would be the lowest density with the highest percentage of open space of any apartment community in Fountain Hills. It conforms to the General Plan’s goals and will bring new households, new tax revenue and new patrons for our local businesses.”
Lowest density, 400 apartments on 23 acres, 17.4 apartments per acre; hardly low density, even worse than Park Place. And, of those 400 apartments, 130 are restricted to folks 55 or older. These folks will be paying around $5,000 per month. For their money, the 55 and older group will receive two meals a day and free transportation to shopping locations.
When Mr. Ginsberg was asked by one of the commissioners about other amenities, Mr. Ginsberg stated there would be a hair salon, movie theater, pool, bocce ball court, etc. When also asked about the age demographics, Mr. Ginsberg stated, if this was like other projects he had developed, the age would be between 70 and 80. Now imagine young professionals looking to rent at Daybreak. What kind of impression will they have to this type of arrangement?
Folks, Daybreak has some powerful people supporting this with many arguments about income, tax revenue, etc., but make no mistake; this plan is half-baked and very flawed. Let’s hope the Town Council has the same sense as the P&Z Commission.
