Cactus Village Community

ZONING Issues Can Lead to Crime ...CAO Karen Freund

Jul 07, 2003

Imagine, if you will, driving down a street where houses are covered with peeling paint and surrounded by dead vegetation, inoperable vehicles, appliances, furniture, tires and deteriorated fencing. Can you honestly say this image doesn?’t make you stop and think of drug dealers, chop shops and low property values?

Envision how a neighbor?’s house with a broken window and a yard full of tall weeds. Do you not think to yourself, ?“Why should I spend my day off cleaning the yard or painting the house, if they are not going to do their house and yard??” This feeling passes on to the next neighbor and so on and so on.

Now, a criminal, looking for a place to live, drives through this same neighborhood and sees all the zoning violations and disrepair. Isn?’t it possible this same criminal will pick your street to live on because he?’ll think people who live here don?’t care what happens next door?

Do you realize this neighborhood blight started with just ONE HOUSE violating zoning laws?

Most people live in areas covered by rules enforced by their Home Owners Association. However, ALL property in the City of Phoenix is covered by Phoenix City Zoning Laws.

Remember, it?’s your property values that are being affected. It?’s you who will have to live next door to the criminal who selected your street to live on because it was the most appealing to his needs.

Call Zoning at 602-262-7844 to register a complaint. They will send an inspector out to talk to the tenant and/or owner, or both, issue warnings, and/or citations and go to court to get the matter resolved and/or levy fines on the tenant/owner...☺