For the past 15 years Eric Borowsky has been trying to decide the proper use for his land. He’s confident he’s found it.
Spring Creek Ranch is the brainchild of Borowsky and his daughter, Lisa Borowsky, who hope to develop their land off State Route 89A halfway between Sedona and Cottonwood. But before they can put a shovel in the ground, they must first receive a zoning change from Yavapai County.
They are slated to go before the Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, Dec. 19, in Cottonwood. If all goes as planned, work could begin as early as spring 2020.
“Water, power and fiber optics have already been in place since 2006 just waiting for something to happen,” Eric said. “What we’re looking to do is offer a class-A operation with a big recreation facility, an on-site store and the plan calls for both RVs and manufactured homes. But, the exact number will be determined based on demand.”
They are seeking to change the zoning of their 246 acres from Residential Rural to Planned Development. Joining them in this endeavor are members of the Ryerson family, who have owned 36 acres of adjoining land since the early 1960s.
Eric, the former owner of Snowbowl in Flagstaff, bought Spring Creek Ranch in 2004 and along the way has been in regular touch with the county in terms of a possible project.
“Fifteen years ago the original intent was to offer two-acre lots,” he said. “But recently we’ve been observing what the Verde Valley needs. Obviously there’s a real workforce housing problem.”
The maximum number of pads on the land will be 2,500, which includes manufactured homes and RV spaces. They are anticipating 75 percent of the final number to be manufactured homes. In addition, they hope to have 400 apartments [with no height variance] and a 200-unit assisted living facility. Some of the manufactured homes may also be used as long-term rentals.
They feel a real selling point is the fact that they will not be age restrictive, nor will they allow any short-term vacation rentals within the community. All apartment leases will be for six months at a time.
They stressed that if approved, the project will not be built out at once but instead in phases based on demand. They expect the entire project to be completed over a span of six to nine years.
They said they’re hoping to have a fire station at the entrance of their development and may look into offering a substation for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. In terms of where children would go to school, they said they will leave that up to the various school districts.
Those interested in moving to Spring Creek Ranch would have the option of choosing from a handful of different models and sizes of manufactured homes. A standard two bedroom, two bath home would range from $120,000 to $170,000, while three-bedroom models would be available. This price would not include the monthly rental of the space, which is expected to be around $700.
“We expect to draw residents to the Spring Creek Community that wish to stay in place long-term,” Lisa said. “Doing so will serve the residents and the property owners well. An arbitrary and/or superficial increase in RV, ground, and/or apartment lease rates would not serve our residents’ needs which, both short- and long-term, would not serve our needs.
“Our goal is to provide a stable and long-lasting community. We don’t answer to shareholders and our goal is to provide a long-term relationship with our residents in order to create a sustainable community where there is very little turnover. That doesn’t happen with escalating, unreasonable rents.”
While there are some similarities between Spring Creek Ranch and El Rojo Grande — which was pulled before being voted on by the county earlier this year — in terms of the number of manufactured homes and RVs spots being proposed, Eric said there are many more differences. Aside from no age restriction, he said they have no immediate neighbors that would be impacted, and that they are further away from Sedona than was Rojo Grande. In terms of potential traffic increase in Sedona, he feels that aside from those working in Sedona, most will go to Cottonwood to do the majority of their shopping. Another difference is that the family plans to be the owner, developer and operator of the project. And, the project will virtually be unseen from the highway.
Lisa said they are hoping to offer enough amenities like the aforementioned store, restaurants and recreational options [including 29% open space] to where their residents won’t need to leave as often, which will cut down on the number of cars on the roads. And, they are working with Verde Lynx to have a stop at their property.
“This is going to be a very nice community and we’re going to do our very best to make sure it stays that way,” she said.
