It was a full house at the new Gold Canyon Community Center on March 27. The attraction was the first-ever gathering of neighborhood leaders coming together to share interests, concerns and best practices for the common good of Gold Canyon.

Initiated by Gold Canyon Community Inc. board members Terri King and Mike DeRosa, the summit drew representatives from 18 Homeowner Associations as well as non-HOA neighborhoods, along with Pinal County District 5 Supervisor Jeff Serdy and several Pinal County department heads and planners.

“With the fast pace of growth and development we’re witnessing around us,” says King, “we need to come together to protect and preserve the beauty, serenity and lifestyle we all came here to enjoy. One loud collective voice carries more weight than several individual voices. This is a chance for our community leaders to get to know each other and create a network for the flow of ideas and solutions.”

Supervisor Serdy called the gathering “as close as we can get to a group of elected officials in unincorporated Gold Canyon.”

He went on to map out future development and transportation plans for the nearby area, as well as Pinal County in general.

GCCI board members gave updates on their respective projects: Dick Richards on water conservation and Isabelle Petersen on the Dark Sky initiative. Superstition Foothills HOA President Joe Hacker reviewed his neighborhood’s progress in joining FirewiseUSA. Both the supervisor and Pinal County officials took questions from the audience and gave updates on projects of specific interest to the group.

In closing the meeting, King asked for a hand vote on the interest and value of having future summits. The result was unanimous. Look for another such meeting in the next three to six months.

For information on Gold Canyon Community Inc., go to https://www.gccincaz.org.