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Residents push to broaden language on 'community gathering space', question Marketplace funding expectation
Summary
Working-group participants said the draft general-plan text is too prescriptive in encouraging Oro Valley Marketplace property owners to fund a community hub; several speakers urged broader wording that looks at multiple locations and existing assets, and one resident recounted prior executive-session negotiations with Marketplace owners.
Participants spent considerable time on a draft action encouraging a "community gathering space" and identifying potential locations such as Oro Valley Marketplace, Steampunk Ranch and town-owned Rooney Ranch. Many attendees supported the goal of a walkable, connected hub but flagged the draft's emphasis on having Marketplace property owners "fund" the space as too directive for a 10-year planning document.
McKenna, who works with the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Marketplace already hosts festivals and functions as a central site but warned that "I don't foresee that the marketplace would pay for something like that" and urged caution about presuming owner funding. Several others recommended softening the text so it encourages coordination and exploration rather than directing staff or future councils to pursue Marketplace funding.
Rosa Daley raised a detailed concern about past negotiations: she said the council discussed Marketplace proposals in a July 2023 executive session and that subsequent local reporting misrepresented the terms. "In an unprecedented move, the Oro Valley Town Council had the town council attorney make a statement on 11/01/2023 and in that statement, he revealed the contents of the executive session because of the misrepresentation," Daley said, characterizing earlier reporting and a prior developer expectation that the town might be asked to contribute multi-million-dollar support.
Speakers urged that the plan should preserve flexibility and list potential hubs without rendering Marketplace the only viable option; suggestions included directing staff to "work with property owners and others to identify opportunities among assets the town already has." Several attendees also noted that development agreements and past rezones had already created negotiation dynamics around what developers would fund, and that the plan should not obligate the town to reengage parties in a way that repeats contentious prior negotiations.
Next steps: staff said they will revise the draft to reduce the emphasis on Marketplace funding while retaining references to previously discussed locations, and will circulate revised language for review before the next meeting. The views discussion was deferred to a future session.
