The Arizona Department of Real Estate has issued a cease-and-desist order against Coronado Ridge Development Corporation preventing the sale of any lots or parcels in the Patagonia Eastside Addition, a 16-lot residential subdivision that was approved by the town council in January 2019.
The order, dated Jan. 27, 2025, states that developer Martin Short of Carmel, Ind., failed to apply for or obtain a Subdivision Disclosure Report (Public Report) from the ADRE Commissioner prior to selling or offering for sale parcels within the subdivision, as required by state statute. Four parcels within the subdivision were sold in 2021, but Coronado Ridge still owns 19 parcels, on which it intends to build 16 homes.
James Knupp, deputy commissioner with the ADRE, said the Public Report requires the developer to provide 25 consumer disclosures relating to improvements installed by the subdivider, such as roads, sewage, trash collection, electricity and water.
“The subdivider will come to us with the disclosures, we ensure that it is complete, and then we would issue the Public Report,” Knupp said.
The order includes an acknowledgment of wrongdoing by Short, who was assessed a $1,000 civil penalty.
Short did not make himself available for an interview with the PRT to discuss the order or the future of the development, which is located on the northern end of Roadrunner Lane and east of Second Avenue, but he indicated by email that he intends to meet the ADRE requirements and move forward.
“We are not currently offering homes or lots for sale at this location,” the email said. “However, it is our intention to now proceed with administrative filings (a new public report application) with the AZ Department of Real Estate. Hopefully we will begin offering new single family homes sometime soon (16 single family homesites/homes may be available).”
The ADRE’s Knupp said it could take “weeks or months” to compile the needed disclosures. One such disclosure would be a report from the Arizona Department of Water Resources demonstrating an adequate 100-year water supply or an exemption from the ADWR. It remains unclear whether Short would be successful in obtaining such a report, and he did not respond to the PRT’s written questions regarding water adequacy.
“At this time we have no further information,” he wrote.
In 2008, Patagonia adopted a Mandatory Adequacy Jurisdiction Ordinance, requiring that proposed subdivisions demonstrate an adequate 100-year water supply, as determined by the ADWR, prior to final plat approval. Patagonia is not included on the ADWR’s most recent list of municipal water providers designated as having an assured or adequate water supply, which is dated May 3, 2024.
In response to a written request, Donna Calderon, water resources specialist associate with the ADWR, wrote: “The Town of Patagonia is not a designated water provider; therefore, a subdivision of six or more lots would need to get a water report from our Department to obtain a public report from the Arizona Department of Real Estate in order to sell lots.”
David French, compliance program manager for the ADWR, wrote on March 20 that the department had not received an application from Coronado Ridge, “therefore no water supply analysis has been done.”
Lonnie Goff, who lives within a couple of blocks of the subdivision and filed complaints with the ADRE and ADWR that led to investigation of Coronado Ridge, said he is hoping for a definitive resolution to the question of water adequacy for not only this subdivision, but future ones.
“If we do have a hundred-year water supply, then if you jump through the hoops, do the hydrology reports, soil reports, traffic reports, all the other stuff that goes in with it, you can build the subdivision,” Goff said. “But without water, that thing is frozen.”
Patagonia town manager Ron Robinson declined the PRT’s request for comment on the situation, referring all inquiries to Short. In response to an email, Robinson said he was unaware of the cease-and-desist order until being notified by the PRT.
The order does not preclude work being done on the properties. A workman, John Claude St. Onge, was on-site in mid-March and said he had been contracted for various tasks on two unfinished homes.
The stalled construction, abandoned building materials and six years of accumulated neglect have been an ongoing source of frustration for nearby residents.
“Martin’s had that thing going for six, seven years now,” said Patagonia vice mayor Michael Stabile. “It started out on a good note, and it’s just stopped. Buildings are half-built, just sitting there. People who live over there have had to live with a lot of inconvenience.”