Do not rezone our town charm away!

Fountain Hills is beautiful. Natural beauty must be appreciated and preserved. The founding council members had the foresight to make the entrances to the village attractive for buyers, renters and snowbirds. First impression sells; it sold us.

The entrances at Palisades and Fountain Hills Blvds. are as charming as the town. Then there is the sad-looking intersection at Shea and Saguaro Blvd. It exemplifies poor planning and permitted economic whim. If we had entered there five years ago, we probably would have been turned off. This intersection is congested and there is inadequate parking to accommodate the bustling businesses. If the area needs anything, it needs parking spaces and a concerted effort to preserve the vegetated view of the homes on the ridge of Monterey.

Another senior center has been proposed. We do not need it. The area that would be converted to an institutional-like building is a pristine piece of land with a soft, rolling hill, gorgeous saguaro and desert vegetation. Surrounding homes blend into this peaceful setting and would directly be impacted.

A Chicago outfit is proposing to build a cheap-looking turnkey nursing home. I have lived in five small villages, from 200 to 20,000 residents, in five different U.S. states. I never had to get involved to defend my property or any other part of these peaceful towns. I did not have to go to council meetings to avoid them selling us out to a developer, only to collect development fees.

Council: Listen to residents and stop the development. Do not rezone. We are in this together and need to watch out for each other and protect our property values and the charm of Fountain Hills.