Rio Vista Village panel seeks to fill 7 vacancies

Phoenix's newest and northernmost village planning committee is up and running and recently swore in the first member who works within the village's boundaries.

Rio Vista Village, which incorporates the Arroyo Grande development in New River as well as all of Anthem west of Interstate 17 and swaths of largely unpopulated land surrounding it, became a living, breathing body in January when the Rio Vista Village Planning Committee held its first meeting.

Donna Gutowski, who runs a cabinetmaking shop in Anthem, was sworn in June 11. She became its sixth member and the first within its boundaries.

The committee hopes to fill all 13 spots it is allotted.

Phoenix launched planning committees in the 1980s to get the public more closely involved in planning and to do so at a localized level. Rio Vista and Phoenix's other 14 planning committees make recommendations to the city's Planning Commission on zoning, apportioning a community's commercial and preserved areas and the city's more general urban plan.

"It's a way to look at each individual area and get public involvement at the grassroots level," said Tricia Gomes, a village planner for Rio Vista.

The Rio Vista committee will serve as a voice to influence decisions on how development will proceed within its boundaries. Like other planning committees, it will need to delicately balance the needs of both residents and business owners while taking into account the concerns of neighboring areas such as Anthem.

"We need to be proactive and shape the city the way it needs to be shaped so residents and businesses can co-exist in happiness," committee Chairman Bob Beletz said.

The committee's first significant business is to contribute to Phoenix's 2012 General Plan. Every decade the city updates the General Plan, a tool to guide development. Rio Vista did not exist in 2001, when Phoenix's most recent plan was adopted. Through the committee, the community for the first time can offer direct input into the city's vision for development and preservation within Rio Vista's boundaries.

Beyond the committee's work on the General Plan, Gomes says, many of the opportunities and challenges in running Rio Vista arise from the village's newness.

"Rio Vista has so many advantages because it's brand-new," she said. "We're starting with a clean slate."

That slate may not be smooth. The topography of Rio Vista is hilly and full of desert washes and preserved land. Such geography entails a variety of building regulations and complicates the construction of waterlines and other infrastructure. However, it also creates conditions for the committee to put a stamp on the appearance of the area.

"There will be a lot of unique development because it's not flat," Gomes said.

Before the committee can begin laying the groundwork for long-term planning, it wants to spread awareness of its existence throughout the community and encourage residents and workers within its boundaries to fill its seven vacant seats. Anyone who works or lives within Rio Vista is eligible to join. Once a committee has established itself, living or working within its boundaries becomes a requirement for membership.

Now that Gutowski is aboard, word about the committee may spread. She plans to keep fellow business owners at the Anthem Commerce Park apprised on "who my upcoming neighbors are going to be and how the dirt is going to be plowed, so to say."

Gutowski said the most important issues facing Rio Vista are the widening of Interstate 17 and the preservation and development of the areas encompassing the Pioneer Living History Village and the Ben Avery Shooting Facility. Within Rio Vista's slice of Anthem, she would like to implement changes to make the area more amenable to non-motorized traffic.

"I would like to see the area develop in a more pedestrian-friendly way," Gutowski said. "Deep in their hearts, people want to be part of a small-town community."