Other articles by Lourdes Medrano:

Sabino senior is in bowl band Job keeps him in the hot seat Confederacy is their specialty Community notes New fire board will remain as is, for now School boasts 14 Merit semifinalists Community notes Oro Valley council to consider hiring freeze this weekOro Valley to consider hiring freeze Park plans now uncertain

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer

Oro Valley residents will be able to get a firsthand look tonight at the town's revised annexation plan for the proposed Arroyo Grande development.

One of the most notable changes to the plan covering 14 square miles of state land is the preservation of wildlife linkages between the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Tortolita Mountains.

"My first impression is that it's an enormously progressive step," said Paul Bieir, a professor of conservation biology at Northern Arizona University.

"This means these animals should be able to move about freely even after development occurs."

Bieir said he would analyze further the modified land-use plan and submit his input in writing to the town. The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a 6 p.m. public hearing today at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Cholla Blvd.

The wildlife linkages in the revised plan largely conform to the ones Bieir identified in a recent Arizona Game and Fish Department study.

That's a good thing, said Carolyn Campbell, executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection.

Campbell has been instrumental in pushing for conservation amid the proposed development that has sparked much controversy in and around Oro Valley.

The area is on state trust land that Oro Valley is working to annex.

Preservation of open space, including wildlife linkages, has been debated since the preliminary plan development was announced for homes, businesses and possibly a resort.

Concerns related to Arroyo Grande's impact on water, wildlife corridors and infrastructure.

The original Arroyo Grande plan designated 68 percent, or about 6,100 acres, as open space but did not define how it would be configured.

Although some concerns remain, Campbell said, the changes are positive.

"There's more open space and it's reconfigured to co- incide with linkage design," she said. "It also has given a definition to open space, which is going to be 100 percent undisturbed space."

The commission may or may not vote on the plan at its meeting tonight. The Town Council will take up the issue in a study session Oct. 22 and again at a its regular meeting Nov. 19.

To learn more about the project, visit www.orovalleyaz.gov and click on "Arroyo Grande Conceptual Plan."