Hayenga's lawyer, Finley, asked how that was possible.
Those units had been assigned to Meza's parcel, DeMichael said. Even if the overall cap had been exceeded, he shouldn't lose his units. That answer was precisely the opposite of what Miriam Hayenga had been told in 2000.
Jamie Peachey
The apartments developed by Evans-Withycombe left few residential units for Hayenga.
Bob Gosnell
Paul Gilbert
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Then, in response to Finley's follow-up questions, DeMichael laid down the real shocker. Hotel rooms, the planner said, don't count toward the unit cap. As long as a room doesn't have a stove, it does not count as a "residential unit" in the same way as an apartment.
Under that interpretation, there should have been plenty of units left at the Pointe Tapatio back in 2000.
As Hayenga's attorney, Jeff Finley, wrote in court documents earlier this spring, "Not until depositions were taken in this matter was it discovered that the City does not count hotel rooms against the dwelling cap . . . Despite having begged the City to allow the 120 units on her property, the City denied the request without ever advising that units were available because hotel rooms do not count."
As Finley concluded, "Instead of full disclosure, the City slowly gave out bits and pieces of information."
Nine years after the city soured her zoning deal, Miriam Hayenga is still on the case. And bits and pieces of information are still coming out.
The rules seem to change outright, depending on who's asking. The city seems more interested in stonewalling than explaining the truth in a logical way.
And, still, Miriam Hayenga fights on.
In the past, Hayenga's life has turned on a dime. After majoring in Biblical counseling at ASU, she headed to the conservative Fuller Theological Seminary in California before realizing she didn't quite agree with its teachings. "I had to figure things out for myself," she says. Tennis proved not to be an option, so she switched gears to start a business and, ultimately, get into developing the Waterin' Hole site.
Today, Hayenga manages the small rental properties that she and her partner have purchased as investments over the years; she's also managing an oil-and-gas venture in Missouri.
Her next move is unclear. But her partner suspects that the lessons Hayenga's learned through this debacle may lead to the next phase of her life.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Slaughter says, "if she got more involved in civic activities after all this is over."
Indeed, if you can't fight City Hall — even when the facts are on your side — maybe it's time to change it.
"I think she's been — I don't want to say disillusioned, although that may be the right word — but disheartened by the fact that her city, the city she grew up in, is basically working against her," Slaughter says.
"You don't realize that can happen."
