Builder outlines Greasewood Flat future

• Plan involves moving Greasewood Flat to a more remote desert location
• Current site would became a home development
• Concerns voiced about noise%2C light%2C traffic and impact on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve

The future of Greasewood Flat is at stake with two requests to Scottsdale for changes in the city's General Plan.

Taylor Morrison, a homebuilder which last year purchased the property where the popular restaurant sits, wants to put up houses on the land. At the same time, it announced plans to move the restaurant, owned by the heirs of the late George "Doc" Cavalliere, to a more remote location that company officials say will mirror its original ambiance.

Taylor Morrison paid $185,000 an acre for a 43-acre site in November 2013 The proposal to the city involves 48.8 acres; the difference comes from a separate purchase of land where houses stand, occupied by family members and others.

The site, at Alma School Parkway and Pinnacle Vista Drive in the shadow of Pinnacle Peak, includes the iconic Western-themed restaurant and bar, which opened in 1975, and the now-closed Reata Pass Steakhouse. The land had been owned by Cavalliere, who died in 2010, since 1955.

The sale to Taylor Morrison enabled his heirs, including a son and three grandsons, to resolve about $2.5 million in debts owed by a trust set up after Cavalliere's death.

The family then worked with Taylor Morrison on relocating Greasewood Flat and the family homes to 120 acres of land the family owns near 128th Street and the Pinnacle Peak Road alignment on the eastern edge of the city. The family land is near the Tom's Thumb trailhead and is adjacent to the city's McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

"As I have said many times, when we started Greasewood Flat, we were out here by ourselves," said George Cavalliere, son of Doc Cavalliere. "But development has encroached on our experience, causing us to lose some of the truly Western experience. That can't happen at our other property, which lies next to land that will be preserved forever thanks to the generosity of Scottsdale taxpayers."

A statement from the family said they and Taylor Morrison have worked closely with preserve advocates and decided against expanding 128th Street, which leads south from Rio Verde Drive to the site.

But other advocates remain opposed.

"A biker bar in the middle of a very pristine area, what a bad idea," said John Naughton of Scottsdale.

Howard Myers, a Scottsdale preserve advocate, issued a comprehensive critique, not just of the Greasewood plan but plans for other unoccupied parcels in the area. He said he fears high-density residential areas will be built and most traffic for the homes and Greasewood will funnel through the Troon area. He also cited noise- and visual-pollution concerns.

Myers, in an e-mail that went out to area residents, said the plans to develop the land around Greasewood would re-create the exact ambiance the family hopes to avoid at the new location.

The move is not likely to take place for a year or more, and Greasewood Flat will remain open at the current site until then.

The two requests to the city are General Plan amendments, the first of several steps before either property can be redeveloped. As of press time, no public hearing was scheduled before the city's Planning Commission.

For the property on Alma School, near the Four Seasons Resort, Taylor Morrison plans a mix of suburban and rural residential units. The suburban portion, which permits greater density, would be along the main road, consisting of about 21 acres. The rural portion would take up the remainder of the property.

Taylor Morrison plans to name the project Cavalliere Flat. The General Plan amendment request provided no details on the number or types of housing the company plans to build.

The other proposal asks the city to change the General Plan to carve out a corner of the 120-acre site for Greasewood Flat and additional amenities aimed at re-creating an Old West experience. The proposal suggests zoning of "cultural/institutional or public use" for the 10-acre corner.

A spokesman said the family hopes to move Greasewood's existing building.