At a meeting regarding planning and zoning matters on Jan. 23, the Camp Verde Town Council unanimously approved preliminary plans for the White Hawk Business Park, an office park at the end of Homestead Parkway, with the intention of using the land to bring in new business, especially in the technology sector.
Scott Simonton bought the parcel of land on the north edge of Camp Verde in 2005. Back in 1998, pit houses dating back to the ancestral Hopi culture of hundreds — even thousands — of years ago, along with thousands of pottery fragments and stone tools, were found on the land.
Over the next few years, Simonton donated and sold the historic land to the Verde Valley Archaeological Center, which opened up a heritage trail on it this summer.
The Town of Camp Verde wanted to extend Homestead Parkway in order to allow for connection to the national forest land at the edge of it to give residents access to the river in accordance with the town’s River Recreation Master Plan. After speaking with Simonton about extending a road there, the town and Simonton realized that they could apply for the Economic Strength Projects grant from the Arizona Commerce Authority if they used the land for a business-related purpose. So the land was rezoned for commercial use, and a plan to build an office park was hatched.
“Mr. Simonton has been a tremendous partner to the town and has quite some stories to tell about this property,” Carmen Howard, of the Camp Verde Community Development Office, said to the council at the meeting. “This subdivision is a well- designed, well-engineered subdivision.”
Simonton’s plan includes facilities such as high-speed fiberoptic cables that would allow for high-tech businesses to use the land. But he said he also hopes to find businesses that will not impose too heavily on the archaeological park next door.
Ken Zoll, director of the Verde Valley Archaeological Center, said that he hopes that the development will be done in a way that preserves the character of the archaeo- logical site, even if he accepts the inevitability of business development. Zoll said he hopes that a visually appealing wall could be built to keep the land somewhat separated.
“There will be a buffer,” Zoll said. “Hopefully we’ll have some say in it and it’ll be attractive. There’s just no way to avoid progress.”
Zoll said he hopes that the VVAC can partner up with the future businesses, perhaps even finding new sponsors for the center.
“It is what it is and we’ll just make the best of it.”
Simonton said he has found some preliminary interest from businesses hoping to move into the 12 available land parcels, but that nothing would be finalized before land improvements were completed, hopefully by May.
With $239,000 received from the Economic Strengths Projects grant and an additional $24,500 in funding from Arizona Game and Fish, the town is able to extend Homestead Parkway to give access to the river- front while only spending about $100,000 of its money and bringing in new businesses at the same time.
“I couldn’t be more appreciative of Scott’s decision to go ahead and build the business park,” Steve Ayers of the Camp Verde Economic Development Office said.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 282-7795 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
