City of Tempe Hearing Officer Meeting – September 30, 2025
City of Tempe Hearing Officer Meeting – September 30, 2025
On September 30, 2025, Hearing Officer Vanessa McDonald convened a public hearing to address code violation abatement cases. After introductory remarks on authority and appeal rights, the officer approved the minutes from September 16, 2025, and heard two abatement requests: the Kimball property at 3911 South Alder Drive and the Rhoads property at 1212 East Greenway Drive. Both properties were found to have chronic code violations; both abatement requests were approved with 180-day open abatements.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Meeting Minutes (September 16, 2025): Approved without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Claire Rhodes (property owner, Tempe resident): Spoke about the Rhoads property. She explained that health setbacks (cancer survivorship, long COVID), the death of her mother and best friend, and her volunteer work running a nonprofit that helps Tempe residents with code compliance had overwhelmed her. She stated she had been working on clearing the property, had a free garage sale planned, and had already donated many items to other Tempe residents. She requested mercy or a postponement, noting that recent rain had prevented her planned garage sale.
- Nick Napolos (Tempe resident temporarily living in Phoenix due to fire damage): Questioned the abatement process, suggesting it should have gone through court first. He expressed concern about fines or liens and noted that photographs may have been taken from beyond the property line. He did not take a position on the abatement itself.
Discussion Items
1. Kimball Property (3911 South Alder Drive; Case CE251429)
- Presented by: Code Inspector Andres Laura Reyes.
- Background: Violations (trash, litter, debris, inoperable vehicles, repairs, deteriorated landscape) first observed March 5, 2025. Multiple notices mailed, two final notices, a door hanger, and a citation issued on July 9, 2025. The owner failed to appear in court, and the case was sent to collections. No contact from owner.
- Evidence: Photos from the morning of the hearing showed continued violations: an unregistered vehicle on blocks, trash, debris, vehicle parts, overgrown weeds.
- Inspector’s request: 180-day open abatement for trash/debris, vehicles, and landscape violations.
- Outcome: Approved.
2. Rhoads Property (1212 East Greenway Drive; Case CE248534)
- Presented by: Code Inspector Supervisor John Salazar.
- Background: Complaint initiated December 23, 2024. Violations included junk, trash, debris, deteriorated roof, obstructed street/sidewalk, deteriorated fence/gate, dead palm fronds. First notice mailed December 27; final notice January 13; extension granted January 27. Additional anonymous complaints in February. Multiple extensions granted as the owner worked with a roofing company. By late August, roof, gate, and palm frond violations were resolved, but junk/trash violations persisted. Notice of intent mailed August 29.
- Evidence: Photos from the morning showed junk, trash, debris in front and back yards, including bags, furniture, plastic containers, tarps, etc. The front yard had worsened since the previous inspection six weeks prior.
- Owner’s response: See Public Comments above. She admitted moving items from back to front for a garage sale.
- Inspector’s request: 180-day open abatement for junk/trash debris violation (City Code 21-3B1).
- Outcome: Approved.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes of September 16, 2025: Approved.
- Kimball Property Abatement: Approved – 180-day open abatement (case CE251429) for trash/debris, inoperable vehicles, and landscape violations.
- Rhoads Property Abatement: Approved – 180-day open abatement (case CE248534) for junk/trash debris violation.
- Appeal rights: Property owners may file an appeal within 14 calendar days to the Board of Adjustment.
- Next hearing: Scheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. in the Tempe Council Chambers.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, September 30th, 2025. This is the hearing for the hearing officer for the city. My name's Vanessa McDonald, and I am the hearing officer, so I'll be conducting the hearing this afternoon. I'm gonna read something into the record, and then we'll go ahead and jump into our agenda, which isn't very long this afternoon. The City of Tempe hearing officer is authorized by Arizona revised statutes and the City of Tempe zoning and development code. The hearing officer is granted the authority to conduct public hearings to decide upon the abatement of code violations occurring on properties within the city. These violations include deteriorated pools, structures or landscaping, storage of junk or refuse, and storage of inoperable or unregistered vehicles. Abatement actions are brought before the hearing officer by the city's code compliance division, typically after numerous attempts at contacting the property owner to obtain voluntary compliance with the code. On today's agenda, we have three items. We have a set of minutes from September 16th, 2025, and two property abatements. Also, I need to um let you know that any property owner who is aggrieved by a decision of the hearing officer may file an appeal within 14 calendar days after the hearing officer has made a decision. Appeals are heard by the Board of Adjustment, after which they may also be appealed to Superior Court. Joining me this afternoon from code compliance are Cassidy McFarron and Sean DeFara to my left. So I'm gonna go ahead and approve the minutes from September 16th, 2025. The second item on the agenda is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the Kimball property. Represented this afternoon by code compliance inspector Andres Laura Reyes. Uh the property was inspected by another inspector on March 5th, and it was found in violation for trash litter debris, inappropriate vehicles, unregistered vehicles, vehicles being repaired in the driveway and deteriorated landscape. Uh this case was uh reassigned to me on May 2nd. I inspected the property on the 7th of May and found the property in violation for trash, litter and debris, inoperable unregistered vehicles, vehicles being repaired in the driveway and deteriorated landscape notice to comply was mailed out on May 7th. I re-inspected the property on May 22nd. There were no changes or improvements by the owner. Uh this time a final notice to comply was uh mailed out on May 22nd. On June the 10th, I made out a second final notice to meet city code requirements for vehicles being repaired in the driveway. They're allowed three times uh for repairs in the 12 month period. So I want to I went ahead and sent out a uh second final to meet that requirement for city code. Uh I mailed out a second final to meet that uh on June uh 25th. So on July 1st, I post the door hanger to the property to correct violations by uh July 8th to avoid a citation. I have also uh left uh several messages for the owner to no response, no response. Okay, yeah. Uh citation was issued uh July 9th for uh trash and debris, inappropriate unregistered vehicles, uh vehicles being repaired in the driveway. Uh the owner failed to appear in court or pay any fines, it was default, and the case was uh referred to collections. So there has been no contact, like I say, from the owner. Uh I left several messages. Uh at this time, I would like to present uh photos as of uh this morning. Okay, thank you. What's that now? Yeah. Uh when we do that. Oh, okay. Thank you. Yep, that'll work. Okay, thank you. Yep. Yeah, this is the uh condition of the property as of this morning. You can see on uh unrichister vehicle on uh on blocks there, still being repaired. Uh lots of trash and debris blocks, uh vehicle parts. And as uh this will be the uh the south side of the property, as you can see uh you know, some debris, um wood slats and some other trash towards the back on the side yard there. So it's just like scrap and trash bags and stuff like that. They've been there for months.
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