Remember the Candy Canes on Pima Road?

“The answer I heard over and over was, ‘The owner’s a kook.’ ””

I don’t remember what year I first saw the candy canes. I do remember the double take.

There they were along Pima Road near Happy Valley: giant candy canes, some twice as tall as the speed-limit sign. And not just red and white, either. Orange ones. Purple ones. Black and yellow ones. It looked like someone had planted a crop of them, and the crop had done very well.

Some years Santa sat beneath a painted saguaro. Plywood cowboys stood guard. There were sculptures I still can’t fully explain. And in front of all of it stood bright yellow signs: NO TRESPASSING. Merry Christmas, now keep out.

I asked plenty of people what was going on. The answer I heard over and over was, “The owner’s a kook.”

But as I eventually learned, there was quite a story behind those candy canes.

I started thinking about those candy canes again when I saw that the city was considering a 77-lot subdivision on the same stretch of land along Pima Road south of Happy Valley.

The land belonged to Henry Becker. A 2006 profile in 85255 magazine reported that he bought about 95 acres there at a 1995 Maricopa County auction. The property was zoned for large residential lots. Becker wanted commercial. The Coalition of Pinnacle Peak, known as COPP, opposed it, and the change never happened.

So Becker took his case to the public, or at least to everyone driving Pima Road. His hand-painted signs went after COPP, City Council members, mayors and anyone else he believed had done him wrong. “You Are Entering COPP’sdale” was one of the milder ones. The magazine called the whole thing “The Great Pima War.”

Becker called his displays art. City officials and plenty of neighbors called them blight. The profile laid out his fights with the city, a lawsuit over a strip of Pima Road he said was his, a run for City Council and his support for recalling two council members. People cheered him or couldn’t stand him. Almost nobody forgot him.

Then, at some point, the candy canes were gone. The stretch of Pima Road went back to plain desert, and I never did find out exactly when or why.

Shea Homes, acting on Henry Becker’s behalf, is asking the city to rezone the 94.8 acres along the east side of Pima Road, extending south from Happy Valley Road, for a 77-lot subdivision. The Planning Commission was set to take up the request Oct. 28. Counting streets and open space, the plan works out to roughly one home per 1.2 acres. It still needs city approval.

Becker spent years fighting for commercial development on that land. Now, after all that controversy, the property may finally be developed. Just not the way he wanted.

The road has changed, too. The Pima Road in Rick D’Elia’s photograph is not the one you drive today. Between Pinnacle Peak and Happy Valley there are now three lanes each way, a landscaped median, bike lanes, sidewalks and a sound wall, a $50.2 million project, according to the city. It’s a much nicer drive. It’s also a lot less interesting.

I won’t miss the signs. I will miss the candy canes a little.

Do you remember the candy canes? Do you know when they disappeared, or why? Better yet, do you have a photograph or a story about that unforgettable stretch of Pima Road? Send it my way. I’d love to hear it, and we may share some of those memories in a future issue.

Scott Gaertner is an Associate Broker with Keller Williams Arizona Realty and a 35-year Scottsdale North expert. He’s helped thousands of people find their ideal lifestyle and shares local insights on ConnectingScottsdaleNorth.com. For more information, visit scottgaertnergroup.com or call 480-634-5000.