Southern AZ development to leave plenty of open space
By Joe Barrios, Arizona Daily Star

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A new development south of Tucson will include 198 home sites on 1,760 acres, with about 95 percent of the land to be preserved permanently as open space.

The developers of the Three Canyons development, former agricultural consultant David Parsons and former rancher Denny Hubbell, paid $6 million for more than 3,000 acres in March 2004. Some land has been sold off.

Parsons said approximately $8 million more will be invested in the land.

A nonprofit stewardship organization called La Semilla will manage "regeneration" of the land, which will include reseeding of native grasses, water-harvesting and planting of 10,000 native trees.

The Three Canyons development, roughly 50 miles south of Tucson and just north of Patagonia, will also include Sonoita Creek Farms, a 13-acre organic farm and nursery that will supply residents with herbs, fruits and vegetables.

A 995-acre wildlife corridor between two segments of the Coronado National Forest will be preserved in perpetuity, even after the development is built out. The easement will be held by the Sonoran Institute and will limit how the land can be developed.

" That's where the game is," Parsons said. "We're protecting those wildlife corridors."

Parsons said the most inexpensive lot will cost about $200,000.

He said the custom homes built at the development will start around $800,000 and run up to about $2 million.

Parsons expects residents to be people "who have seen urbanization and are looking for some type of protection against that."

The first open house is scheduled for this weekend.
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Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com

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