Daybreak rental development, what’s good about it? The proposed development of 400 rental and assisted care apartments at Palisades and Shea will have a ruinous effect that can never be remedied. It directly contradicts the town’s Mission Statement to develop “…a community where the conservation and preservation of the natural heritage and visual beauty of the surrounding desert are maintained.”

Our town was to be a safe, beautiful, well-planned environment that would attract upscale residents and higher-priced homes. Numerous multi-million-dollar homes were planned and built, taking advantage of magnificent views and open space. It is a betrayal to cram into a topographically inappropriate space, residences better suited for the town center.

This raises another red flag regarding poor town planning. We already suffer the stain on our image of the empty Fry’s strip mall as newcomers approach our town. Now the second thing they see will be the overcrowded, poorly placed high-rise apartments and (yet another) assisted care facility.

The unobstructed view of Four Peaks at our gateway has been the hallmark of true desert living and a great allure to investing here. When I bought into this dream, I was told the town didn’t even allow street lights in order to encourage wildlife. Every community was to have adjoining open space. If we build out every square inch, that vision gets tossed to the winds. We lose our identity. We become an annex to the beehive of Scottsdale.

What has happened to good judgment? Where has our sense of aesthetics gone? If this project moves forward, we must ask ourselves, “Did we buy into a lie?” I beg the Planning and Zoning Commission to deny approval of this project for the sake of integrity; the preservation of homeowner equity and for the posterity of our beautiful town.