Phoenix Business Journal Guest Column

An open letter to Jerry Colangelo:

I'm writing this in response to your recent column in the Feb. 28 edition of the Business Journal (My View: Why the work underway is needed at Arizona Biltmore Golf Club).

While I, the residents of Two Biltmore Estates and many other neighbors share your appreciation for the historic value of the Adobe and Links golf courses, we don't feel the Biltmore neighborhood is "enhanced" by a re-engineered business model aimed at holding larger and more frequent non-golf commercial events. Nor is our community improved by the construction of a 6,000-square-foot party pavilion and the added traffic and noise it would bring.

This isn't what any of us envisioned when we purchased homes in what had traditionally been a quiet, residential neighborhood.

I want to be clear, Jerry, that your assertion I am merely among "a handful of residents who fail to see beyond their front gate or their backyard fence" is flat wrong. More than 300 of us have joined the Arizona Biltmore Neighborhood Association with the primary intention to organize in protecting our community from your destructive plans. I've been a Biltmore resident for over 35 years, and am president of the II Biltmore Neighborhood Association. Nobody I know supports your project.

If, as you state, your objective is to "improve" and "preserve" the special character of the golf courses, why not accept our recommendation that you put your new parking area below ground and not mar our community with a Walmart-like illuminated parking lot in plain sight of everyone who values the serene, park-like setting of the Biltmore? The cost of doing so could not be much greater than the fees you are paying your high-priced law firm to battle with our residents and neighbors in court.

Based on development plans filed with the city, it appears Biltmore Golf Club and its owner - JDM Partners - are intent on bringing much larger public events to our neighborhood. Weddings? Concerts? You and your team haven't been clear what you have in mind.

Lastly, I want to address any assertion that Biltmore neighbors haven't been willing to listen to your development plans and those of your colleagues at JDM Partners. We're more than willing to meet and listen.

What we don't do is roll over in the face of commercial plans that mean more crowds, more traffic and more noise for those of who've chosen to make the Biltmore neighborhood our home.

Richard Arroyo is a 35-year Biltmore resident and the president of the II Biltmore Neighborhood Association.