Good afternoon.

Today is Tuesday, November 18th, 2025.

This is the hearing officer for the City of Tempe.

My name's Vanessa McDonald.

I'll be conducting the hearing this afternoon.

I'm going to go ahead and read something into the record before we get into our cases this evening.

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.

The hearing officer may issue an order directing the owner, occupant, property manager, or other responsible person to remediate a code violation or may authorize the city to abate the property.

The cost of the abatement is the responsibility of the owner of the property where the violation occurs and will be collected as an assessment against the property in violation of the code.

On today's agenda, we have five items.

We have a set of minutes from November 4th, 2025, and we have four property abatements.

Today the first item on our agenda is a set of meeting minutes for from November 4th, 2025.

I had a chance to review them when they were sent to me after that hearing, and I think they accurately reflect what took place at that hearing.

So I'm going to go ahead and approve the minutes from November 4th, 2025.

Agenda item number two is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the Grafis property.

This property is located at 210 East Vaughn Drive.

Applicant is the City of Tempe, represented this afternoon by Inspector Melissa Ensing.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, Madame Hearing Officer.

My name is Melissa Insing, and I'm a code compliance inspector with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I am here this evening to request a 180-day open abatement for the property located at 210 East Vaughn Drive.

Tempe, Arizona 85283.

Code compliance abated the front yard on September 16th, 2025.

During this abatement, I observed deteriorated landscape that included dead palm fronds, trash and debris, unregistered and inoperable vehicles in the rear yard.

I mailed and emailed the property owner an updated final notice for deteriorated landscape inoperable and unregistered vehicles and trash and debris in the rear yard.

I have been in contact with Mr.

Grafis and have discussed what violations need to be corrected.

At this time, I'd like to present photos taken today of the existing violations.

You can see there's a boat and then another boat, and then there's two cars underneath all these the trash and debris, the metal, there's wood buckets.

He has items from the front of the fence all the way around the property or the backyard.

Here's a picture of the palm trees.

There's three of them, and the palm fronds come all the way down to the ground.

Again, you can see miscellaneous trash and debris around the palm trees as well.

As stated before, I am seeking a 180-day open abatement for deteriorated landscape, inoperable and unregistered vehicles along with trash and debris in the rear yard located at 210 East Bond Drive, Tempe, Arizona 85283.

Thank you.

And just to note for the record, I did see in the packet that between the years of 2020 and 2025, this property has also received multiple complaints.

Criminal citations previously abated.

So even though this particular abatement has started just this year, this property has a long history with code compliance.

I do have a question about the roof.

What do we do about the roof?

Because it is in pretty bad shape.

Do we there's a current criminal packet or case going on with it?

Um the owner is trying to work with programming to get help.

Um it is an active case right now, so we are still addressing that.

We're um still going through the process of it.

I just didn't know how that worked when it's actually attached to the structure.

Yeah, well, thank you for the presentation.

Um, Mr.

DeFarris, anyone on the line wanting to speak on this item?

Madam Haring Officer, no one online.

Thank you.

And I'll make a note for the record there's no one here in the chamber other than City of Tempe staff, so I don't believe there's anyone here, the property owner or neighbors to talk about agenda item number two.

Um clearly, these photographs speak for themselves, and this property is you know seriously in need of abatement due to a lot of health and safety issues that I think exist on the property.

So I'm gonna go ahead and approve your 180-day open abatement request for the property located at 210 East Vaughn Drive, um, contained in case CE207434.

Thank you.

Thank you.

As I mentioned before, agenda item number three is no longer uh up for abatement.

It has been brought into compliance by the property owner.

So we will be jumping to agenda item number four.

This is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the Rifkin property.

This property is located at 1200 South Ash Avenue.

Applicant is the City of Tempe, represented again by Inspector Melissa Ensing.

Hello.

Hello, thank you again.

As stated before, my name is Melissa Ensing, and I'm code compliance inspector with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I'm here this evening to request a 180-day open abatement for the property located at 1200 South Ash Avenue, Tempe, Arizona 85281.

This case was initiated by public complaint on August 8th, 2024 for dead tree in the rear yard.

I have sent three correction notices to the property owner.

I've been in contact with the owner and have discussed the violation.

One citation was issued to the owner on August 22nd, 2025.

The owner failed to appear in court.

And the citation has gone to collections.

He was able to remove part of the dead tree, however, a large part of the tree still remains.

At this time, I'd like to present the photos taken today.

Thank you.

As you see, this is the front of the property.

You can see the stump right here above the roof.

Here's another view that shows just how tall the tree is still remaining.

Um there's no alleyway by his property, so this is from the street or the sidewalk along his property.

Okay.

As stated before, I am seeking a 180-day open abatement for the deteriorator landscape that includes the dead tree located at 1200 South Ash Avenue, Tempe, Arizona, 85281.

Thank you.

And this property is in um is it going through probate or does it have the I know notice there's a last will and testament within the packet and right.

The owner the the individual that lives in the home is the son of the original owners, and they both have deceased.

Okay.

So he is currently in the home.

Okay, so this is to demonstrate that he is the responsible person for the property.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, understood.

Thank you.

Um Mr.

DeFarrez, anyone on the line wanting to talk about this item?

Madam Here and Officer, no one online.

Thank you.

Again, I'll make a note that I don't believe there's anyone here wanting to speak on agenda item number four.

We have been joined by another member of the public, but I believe that's for the next case.

Um I'm gonna go ahead, given the state of the property, the size of the tree, you know, they've kind of done a good job, but I think there's a lot left to bring it into compliance.

So I'm gonna uh approve the 180-day open abatement request for the Rifkin property located at 1200 South Ash Avenue, contained in case CE 245 608.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That brings us to agenda item number five.

This is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the White property located at 1716 North Camellia Street.

The applicant is the city of Tempe, represented by Code Inspector Michael Moreno.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, Madam Hearing Officer.

My name is Michael Moreno, and I am a code compliance inspector with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I am here this evening to request a 180-day open abatement for the property located at 1716 North Camellia Street, Tempe, Arizona, 85288.

This case was initiated on March 7th, 2025 for the violations of trash and debris.

Code compliance received an anonymous complaint about the trash and littered debris in the front sides and rear yards of the property.

On March 11th, 2025, an initial inspection was conducted by Inspector Aaron Dunn, and the violations were confirmed at that time.

The first notice was mailed to the property owner, Raymond White.

On April 7th, 2025, the case had been reassigned to code compliance supervisor Anna Turin, who conducted a follow-up inspection at the property.

The violations had not been corrected, and new violations had been observed.

A final notice was mailed to the property owner, Raymond White.

On April 28th, 2025, another follow-up inspection was conducted by code compliant supervisor Anna Churin at the property.

The violations had not been corrected.

Supervisor Anna Churin was able to speak to Mr.

White at the property regarding the violations.

A 30-day extension was granted at that time with the deadline being May 28th, 2025.

Mr.

White was also given information for care 7 and a second final notice was issued at that time.

On June 13th, 2025, a reinspection was conducted by Supervisor Anna Churin.

New violations were observed at that time.

There had been no communication from the property owner, Mr.

White, since April 28th, 2025.

A second revised final notice was sent out to include the new violations and the existing violations.

From June 30th, 2025 to July 28th, Supervisor Anna Turan was had been in contact with the property owner, Mr.

White, and had given him information for the emergency housing improvement program and care 7.

On August 4th, 2025, the case was reassigned to me.

On August 8th, 2025, after speaking with the property owner, I granted Mr.

White an additional two-week extension.

On August 22nd, 2025, after confirming the property was still not into compliance, a citation was issued to Mr.

White.

The fine for the citation was paid on September 10th, 2025.

On October 7th, 2025, the notice of intent to abate was mailed and posted to the property.

I would now like to present the photos taken today of the existing violations.

Thank you.

The photos I have in my packet are dated October 15th, so they're a little over a month ago.

Yes.

So here we have a picture just of the frontage of the property here.

We are on the east side of the property facing west.

Obviously, this is taken from the sidewalk.

Here we can see some deteriorated landscaping in the front yard area, large dirt patches with grass all the way around, as well as growing through some of the block and pavers right here on the side.

Yes, these two vehicles in the front of the property are both registered and operable.

Thank you.

We are on the southeast corner facing northwest.

As you can see here, we have some deteriorated landscaping along the edges of the front yard as well as into the back of the side yard here.

Next.

Along with some other debris here on the side.

And here we can see the tail end of one of the inoperable unregistered vehicles.

Here we can see we have deteriorated wood, other bins, tarps, excess wood.

We have one inoperable vehicle here, and then one on the back side here as well.

In the alley, a close-up of the two vehicles along with other trash and debris items.

Here we have some tires, uh upholstered furniture that is deteriorated, other bins, uh, engine parts, metal along the side here as well.

Like I stated before, here is one inoperable vehicle, and here is another.

I know that's difficult to see, as well as this structure here is just a large tarp that had been placed over PVC or some type of conduit structure.

This also would be considered trash and debris.

This is a photo of the alley just behind the property.

The property in question is here, as we can see these two uh structures that I had mentioned before.

Uh, we can see that some of the trash and debris that was from that property had been placed out in the alley here along the neighboring wall, as well as in the back here.

So the trash and debris had essentially been relocated to the alley.

Right, which it places an unfair burden on that property owner, correct?

Because everyone is responsible to keep the alley behind their own property.

Correct.

Clear of debris.

Okay.

As I stated before, I am seeking a 180-day open abatement for the violations of trash and debris inoperable or unregistered vehicles and deteriorated landscaping located at 1716 North Camellia Street, Tempe, Arizona, 8528 property.

Thank you.

Thank you for the thorough presentation and the photographs.

They're really helpful.

Thank you.

Um, I'll ask Mr.

Defar, is there anyone on the line wanting to speak on this agenda item?

Madam here now, madam here and obviously no one online, but we do have a homeowner in attendance.

Okay, that was my understanding.

Thank you, Mr.

Morana.

Oh good afternoon.

Uh you weren't here with my name's hearing officer McDonald.

Um, I understand you are the property owner, Raymond White.

Yes.

For the property located at 1716 North Camellia Street.

Yes.

Thank you.

Um, you heard the presentation that was given by Inspector Moreno.

And so I guess my question to you is do you have um anything to add to what he said or well?

The um one car, the um Monte Carlo is going to get moved next weekend to a storage place.

Uh my son bought the tarp that's over it a steel carport, the one that had the silver that looked too big because it is.

He bought the wrong size one, and I've got the proper size to replace it.

It's just that was trying to get things done as best I could.

I'm on a fixed income, and with food stamps, I'm on SSI.

I can't put in for a homeowner's loan because I can we have two thousand dollars of rest in the bank for SSI.

Right.

I can't afford to hire anybody because I live month to month.

The money I save back takes care of property taxes, insurance, utility bills, foods, clothes.

Sure.

And it's sort of thing that any fine put against me throws me off.

The $600 fine that I had to pay meant that I didn't get my eyes tested and new glasses.

Uh took out uh well put me behind on all my utilities for two months that I had to catch up on.

Um during the time that this started until recently, the temperature was between 103 and 115 degrees with me being disabled doing all the all the labor myself.

So that's why well, also uh I was going to put a uh roll around evaporative cooler in front because my big evaporative cooler was broke down and I was saving up money to fix it, and I was told that I couldn't put that on there because it was an eyesore.

And I'm going, okay.

Used to have swamp couvers sitting in front of houses all the time, and nobody complained about them.

And it it was going to be temporary until I got the big one fixed.

So that set me back because there was no way to cool down the house.

The coolest I could get the house during that time was about 96 degrees inside.

There were three months that I couldn't sleep in my own bedroom because it was too hot.

And any work that I did outside, I had no way to really cool down in between times.

So that's why it stretched out so long over the summer.

Okay, I do have a question for you.

Um Inspector Moreno indicated that he had given you uh the name of our care of the city's care 7.

Uh and during some of the extension periods that he granted you, and that is a service that the city has to help individuals like yourself get their properties cleaned up.

Um, and I believe he gave you that information.

Did you follow up on that?

Did you contact anyone from Care 7?

I really couldn't get any kind of response from them to find out.

Basically, all they wanted to do was throw everything away and not, and I needed to sort through what was capable and what wasn't.

The reason that there's so much debris and everything still in there is because still got to do a final clean.

I knew the rain was coming, that means grass is gonna grow.

I'm gonna have to cut it again.

So if I'm gonna sweep it, why or break it and put myself through through all that twice to do the same thing that I do once after it's all done, you know, just made sense to me.

Why wear myself out when I'm going to have to do it again.

Yeah.

Well, I do and everything that I went to uh try to get cooling done in the house, everybody wanted to put an AC unit in.

Sure.

Which is great, except I couldn't afford to run it.

The expense of the electric bill for something like that running over the expense of a swamp cooler running is real big.

Sure.

I understand and I understand um that there are individuals like yourself who have kind of a snowball effect of events, you know, physical disabilities, um, things that happen that uh render them unable to care for their own properties, and that's why we have this process in the city of Tempe, because we have a responsibility to the entire neighborhood to keep the entire neighborhood looking good.

We have a responsibility to the neighbors, you know, on either side of you to uh to create rules so that the neighborhood can look good, you know.

And if they're maintaining their properties, we want to ensure that likewise they look out at a well-maintained property.

Um, you weren't here at the very beginning of the hearing.

I knew you were you were coming, but what I wanted to tell you is if I render a decision today, you have an appeal.

There's two weeks after this hearing during which you can either continue to work on your property and bring it into compliance, but that's gonna take I'm doing that regardless.

Well, it's gonna take a lot of effort because I don't believe based on the photographs that I've seen today that it's anywhere near compliance, but let's entertain the notion that you will bring it into compliance within the next two weeks, then the property abatement would not take place.

But if it does if you cannot do that, then the city will come in and they will clean the property, they'll take all the remaining stuff off the property so that it can be brought into code compliance, and it's something that I encourage people to think of as not a negative, but kind of a positive because clearly it's been overwhelming for you in your situation, the heat, everything else that you mentioned, it's just been overwhelming.

But by the same token, we've been at this now for eight months, and you've been granted extensions, and I also have uh from uh a city inspector from November of last year uh that ended up okaying everything.

Uh that ended up okaying everything.

The he was there because the uh I had a 55 shooting pickup truck that I was had been uh friend of my son's place.

Uh I ended up I had to give him my 85 suburban because I couldn't afford to put tires on it, so I couldn't drive it through a motion safely.

Okay.

And the city made me get rid of it.

The only way I could get rid of it first was I gave it to him.

He got some towers, moved it up.

In fact, he used it to move him and his wife to Alabama.

So I I had to give away a perfectly good truck because the city wouldn't give me time to buy tires.

So then this case actually goes back further than March and goes back into the wellness he wrote it off.

And he's the one that told me to move the pickup truck in the backyard, saying that uh you've got a privacy rule there, anybody peeking over to invading your privacy.

That's what he told me.

I said, Well, we'll do this temporarily until we can find better ways of doing it because I kind of wrote down a vehicle again.

Okay.

Well, I don't know who that inspector was, but I do know that the rule within the city is that you can't have the storage of uh junk, trash, debris, inoperable registered vehicles visible from the public right of way, which is not only your front yard but from your alley as well.

So if you're standing in the right of way, and clearly all of these structures that peek up over the fence, those are all considered the reason I lost the uh height to the row is because they built the alley up.

I can I can show you where my backyard the wooden gate there is a six-foot tall gate on my side.

That's time, but to obscure all of this stuff, I would predict your wall would have to be like 10 or 12 feet, and that's not the case, so it is visible from the public right approach.

Okay, I so do you have anything more to add um to the conversation?

Evidently not.

Okay, well, I thank you for showing up.

Um, I thank you for your efforts thus far.

I do think that you will benefit from having the city come in and abate your property.

Um, I think you'll benefit from it.

I think your neighbors will benefit from it as well.

Well, the only thing I see is that I'll end up losing money in the long run for the motorcycle parts that got it in there all antique.

In fact, the Monte Carlo that's gonna get moved is actually the only thing back there.

Well, no, technically, it's an antique too.

So okay.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

So no one else is in attendance this afternoon uh from the public.

Any neighbors wanting to speak on this agenda item.

Uh this has been a situation that per the property owner has um gone back to November of last year.

My packet only um was initiated in March.

But I think that the photographs speak for themselves.

Um, and I believe that um it's in the best interest of not only the property owner but the neighbors as well to go ahead and approve the 180-day open abatement request.

This is for the white property located at 1716 North Camellia Street, contained in case CE251503.

That brings us to agenda item number six.

This is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the Tura.

It's T U U R A property located at 1241 West Romo Jones Street.

Applicant is the city of Tempe, represented again this afternoon by Inspector Melissa Ensing.

Hello again.

Hello again.

Thank you, Madame Hearing Officer.

As stated before, my name is Melissa Ensing, and I'm a code of compliance inspector with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I'm here this evening to request a 180-day open abatement for the property located at 1241 West Romo Jones Street, Tempe, Arizona, 85281.

This case was initiated by a public complaint on October 4th, 2024 for commercial business and equipment on the residential property.

I have sent four correction notices to the property owner for trash and debris, construction equipment and materials, deteriorated landscape on the property.

I have sent three sites or three citations have been issued to the property owner on January 30th, July 8th, and October 10th.

The owner filed to appear in court and the citations went to collections.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So this is the front of her property where the commercial vehicles and equipment come and go.

She has corrected the landscaping.

So the front yard right now today has been brought into compliance.

The remaining violation is the commercial equipment that's in the backyard.

Again, she has different equipment that comes and goes from the property.

Thank you.

Is anyone on the line wanting to speak?

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online.

Thank you.

I'll make a note again for the public record.

There's no one here in the chamber wanting to speak on this agenda item.

Well, yeah, clearly they're running an equipment rental, perhaps, off out of this property.

Um it'll be interesting to see if when you show up if the equipment's there or not, it might take quite a while.

So I am inclined to grant your 180 days because you may have to make several attempts at removing the equipment on the property.

Uh so based on your testimony, the evidence that was presented and your um attempts at reaching out to the property owner.

I'm gonna go ahead and approve the abatement for the property at 1241 West Romo Jones Street, contained in CE247091.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes our agenda for the evening.

Uh Mr.

DeFara, or if there are any announcements.

Madam Harry and Officer, one announcement.

Our next hearing officer is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2nd, here in the council chambers and live on Temp 11.

Great.

Thank you very much.

We're adjourned.