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Residents urge Queen Creek to save Painting Wonderland, say rapid development risks local small businesses
Summary
Three residents urged the council to prevent the displacement of Painting Wonderland, a local ceramic and art studio, citing a petition of more than 1,000 signers and widespread social-media attention.
Three residents used the public-comment period at the Queen Creek Town Council meeting to urge the council to take action to prevent the displacement of Painting Wonderland, a ceramic and art studio that speakers said has served the community for eight years.
Annalisa Farrar (22249 S. Ellsworth Road) told the council she and "over a thousand undersigned" petitioners ask the town to "take immediate action to prevent the displacement or destruction of Painting Wonderland," which she said has hosted birthday parties, school programs, workshops for seniors and other community activities. "Removing or relocating this studio undercuts not only the economic livelihood of several dedicated small business owners, but also strips Queen Creek residents of a valuable, creative, and communal resource," Farrar said.
Linda Doty (20379 E. Appaloosa Drive) said she has lived in Queen Creek seven years and warned that "overaggressive growth" and big-box development threaten the town's character. "When these large corporations, the developers, the contractors ... become the biggest part of our town, we've lost our community," Doty said.
Misty McFadden (21557 S. 200th Place) said she had shared social-media posts supporting Painting Wonderland and described broad online attention to the issue: "I think it was like 3,000,000 views on that video and ... a hundred and something shares," she said. McFadden, a long-time resident and business owner, proposed relocating several beloved local businesses to a centralized downtown space to preserve them amid new development.
Mayor Wheatley and council members did not take action during public comment. Meeting procedure was reiterated at the start of the session: under Arizona law, the council may not respond, discuss or take action on issues not on the published agenda during the public-comment period. The speakers said they planned petitions and social-media outreach; no formal town response or staff directive to research relocation or preservation was recorded in the meeting minutes.
The public-comments block ended with the mayor asking whether there were additional speakers; none were queued.
