Referendum on the lakeshore 650 annexation

PVCA does not support this annexation and is recommending a

NO vote on proposition 492.

The annexation of about 652 acres into the Town of Prescott Valley will be on the 2026 general election ballot.

Voting NO to the annexation would keep this land (Lakeshore Drive and Fain Road) in the unincorporated Yavapai County and subject to county standards.

Voting to allow this annexation would allow the master planned community “Lakeshore 650” subject to town standards.

The Use of the Term “Control”

There is the term “Control” being used to promote this annexation. That wording can be misleading when discussing water, sewer, town and county regulations, and other lacking infrastructure.

Water Use

The town controls no one’s water usage, town water users are billed for the amount of water delivered to your residence or business. The town has no restrictions of the amount of water you are able to use.

Arizona Department of Water Resources regulations, however, do regulate private wells. An exempt well is generally a domestic well with a pump capacity of 35 gallons per minute or less.

Domestic wells in this area do not pump anything close to the max allowed by the state, but instead private well owners state they average 5-8 gallons per minute. This would apply to all 320 homes allowed by the county’s current zoning on this land.

With our only aquifer being out of safe yield (taking more water out than replacing) since 1999 we all need to consider what we can do to conserve what water we have for current residents. The state is not issuing 100-year water assurance certificates for building within Prescott Valley to developers.

Water Capacity

The water infrastructure proposed for Lakeshore 650 development is a concern.

The proposed master-planned community would require a minimum water capacity of approximately 2,485 gallons per minute, along with a 2-million-gallon storage tank.

For comparison, Arizona's rules distinguish exempt domestic wells from higher-capacity, non-exempt wells. ADWR states that an exempt well has a maximum pumping capacity of 35 gallons per minute.

More information about Arizona's well regulations is available from the Arizona Department of Water Resources:

Arizona Department of Water Resources — Well Drilling in Arizona

Arizona Department of Water Resources — Well Drilling Frequently Asked Questions

The Town’s Water and Sewer Treatment Plant

The town’s water and treatment plant is reaching its capacity. The estimated cost to expand would be approximately $200 million. This would include purchasing additional land from the Fains to expand the plant. The current residents would be paying increased water and sewer rates to pay for this expansion.

Changes to the Master Plan-Town Control

Any changes to the high density, market rate master plan development for Lakeshore 650 will be made without public knowledge, as those changes would be made by the development department and the developer behind closed doors. PV residents should know about and participate in significant changes to the development.

County Regulations

Remaining in unincorporated Yavapai County does not mean that the property would be without rules or oversight. Yavapai County has zoning, land-use, building, permitting, and development requirements that apply to unincorporated areas. The County's Land Use Unit enforces its zoning ordinance and related regulations, while its Development Services Department administers permitting and plan review.

In addition, the property owner or developer could establish a Property Owners Association (POA) or Homeowners Association (HOA) if greater private oversight and additional community standards were desired.

Other Infrastructure

The town of Prescott Valley has other infrastructure that would need to be expanded if this annexation is approved.

The town is not providing adequate infrastructure for current residents now.

This includes:

Safe well-maintained roads and enough roads needed for emergency evacuations
Up to date water and sewer underground lines including 160 new fire hydrants in the older parts of town
Public transportation
Schools
Health Care/Social Services
Parks and Recreation
Sidewalks
Police (town) and Fire services(county)

Giving up to 5 million dollars in impact-fee rebate to the developer to develop a 15-acre park then places the costs of infrastructure for this development on the taxpayers in Prescott Valley.

Voters should carefully consider if adding 652 acres to our town is really a benefit or a liability.

History of how Propsition 492 got on the ballot so

Prescott Valley Voters Can Decide to Annex or NOT

In September 2024, the STOPLAKESHORE650 grassroots citizen committee filed an application to petition a referendum on the annexation of 652 acres of land owned by the Fain Land & Cattle Co, for the purpose of developing a high-density master-planned community.

On Thursday, October 10, 2024, representatives from the STOPLakeshore650 citizen committee delivered boxes of signed petitions to the office of the Prescott Valley Town Clerk. Upon completion of the count and recount, the Town Clerk presented the Committee with a receipt for 379 petitions containing 4,563 signatures, far exceeding the 1,455 signatures required for placement of the referendum on a future ballot..

As of November 7, 2024, the review of petition signatures by the Town Clerk and County Recorder had been completed and a receipt was issued to all parties certifying that the required number of signatures has been met. According to law, the referendum must now be placed on the ballot.

At the November 14 council meeting, on Agenda item "Call of Election, Referendum Petition R-01-2024 Lakeshore650" Council voted 4-2 to place the referendum on the November 2026 ballot.

Council discussed 3 potential dates of May 2025, August 2026 and November 2026.

Councilmembers Freund and Zurcher both stated that the majority of the constituents they heard from preferred May 2025.

Councilmembers Dickinson, Hunt, Palguta and Schumacher expressed concerns about the costs ($89k) of conducting a Special Election in May 2025. Town Clerk Fernandez reassured Council that $300k - $400k is budgeted annually for a Special Election contingency.

Council discussed the likelihood that a local General Election would not be needed in November 2026 if all council candidates and town ballot measures were decided in the 2026 Primary Election. In that scenario conducting a local 2026 General Election would cost the Town $160k.

Ultimately, Councilmember Schumacher made the motion to place the referendum on the November 2026 ballot resulting in the 4-2 decision with Freund and Zurcher voting "No" and Greer absent.

Council's decision prevents citizens from having the opportunity to vote on the referendum in a timely manner. Instead Council chose the latest possible choice (November 2026) forcing citizens to wait 2 years to have their voices heard on this matter.

The Referendum will allow citizens registered to vote in Prescott Valley the opportunity to cast a vote FOR or AGAINST the annexation of 652 acres for the development of a high-density master-planned community near Lakeshore Dr. and Fain Rd.

If annexation is voted down, the County zoning (RCU-2A: Single Family Rural Residential) will remain in place. County zoning would allow 1 single family residence per 2 acre minimum or approx. 326 single family homes instead of the proposed 3,491 mixed housing units plus commercial.

Roadblocks along the way

To achieve the required number of petition signatures within the 30 day timeframe, a dedicated group of over 40 citizen volunteers put in countless hours and overcame obstacles put in their way by the Town of Prescott Valley .

The Town of Prescott Valley initially set the required number of petition signatures at 5,709. A Yavapai Superior Court Judge found this to be unconstitutional and ruled that the required number of signatures be 1,455 - equal to 10% of the qualified electors who participated in the July 30, 2024 primary election. Details of the legal case are discussed in the article, "Judge rules against the Town of Prescott Valley". and further documented in an article by Transparent Payson.

The “Decline to Sign” campaign included a barrage of text messages, robo-calls, neighborhood canvassing, radio ads and a team of paid “blockers”, set up alongside the citizens’ petition tables, all with the intent to discourage citizens from signing the petition.

Despite these efforts to block the success of the petition drive, the citizen volunteers succeeded in obtaining over 4,500 valid signatures in just 21 days, signifying strong public support in favor of a referendum to let the voters decide on the matter of annexation.

False Claims

In an attempt to block the referendum on the annexation of 652 acres for the Lakeshore650 high-density master planned community, paid circulators distributed marketing pieces with false and misleading information. See sample below.

Fain Signature Group falsely claims that Lakeshore650 is pioneering water neutral development (WND), supports the environment and addresses our water needs.

The most basic premise of WND is that every drop of captured and reclaimed water is directed back into the aquifer and not reused for any purpose. The Master Development Plan which calls for irrigation of extensive landscaping illustrates that Lakeshore650 will NOT be a water neutral development. A WND demonstration project has not been written into the agreements and it is not known whether the WND concept will work on the terrain of LS650.

Every new home and business consumes groundwater. To develop a high-density community of 3500 housing units, commercial space, parks, and athletic fields on land that had been zoned for approximately 300 single-family homes does not support the environment nor address our water needs. Rather, it will significantly strain our limited groundwater supply which has already been impacted by decades of overpumping by municipal water providers.

Canvassers (referred to as "activists" by FSG) asking for signatures on the petition are giving citizens a chance to be included in the decision-making process. The referendum would give citizens an opportunity to cast a vote for or against annexation. The "Decline to Sign" messaging would DENY CITIZENS AN OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE on the question of annexation.

Road to the Ballot - a Photo Journal

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse