Yes, I can.

There we go.

All right, we're in we're in business now, Vanessa.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Um are you ready for me to call the meeting to order?

Yes, go ahead, Vanessa.

Just to remind you, uh item number four um has been withdrawn and the case is in compliance.

Correct.

Thank you for saying that.

I'm gonna go ahead and read something into the record uh quickly, and then we can go ahead and jump into our agenda.

Thank you to staff for setting up this virtual hearing for me today.

Um 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.

Um agenda item number four has been brought into code compliance, so that leaves six remaining property abatements.

After which they may also be appealed to superior court.

Um, I had a chance to look at the minutes at that meeting, and they were sent to me right after that hearing.

So, and I believe that they accurately reflect what took place at that hearing.

So I'm going to go ahead and approve the minutes for March 17th, 2026.

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

This property is located at 1208 West Malibu Drive.

The applicant is the City of 10 P code compliance represented this afternoon by Code Inspector John Salazar.

Thank you, Madam Harry Master.

My name is John Salzer, and I'm code inspector supervisor with the City of Tempe Community Enhancement Division.

I am here this evening to request a hundred and eighty-day open abatement for the property located at 1208 West Malibu Drive in the beautiful city of Tempe, Arizona, 85282.

Uh, just FY, Madam Hearing Officer, this property has been previously abated multiple times.

This current case was initiated by a public complaint on December 11th, 25 for overhigh grass and weeds and an inoperable vehicle.

On December 11th, the property was inspected and found to be in violation of overhigh grass and weeds in the front and rear, an unoperable vehicle in the front driveway and rear yard, and a deteriorated fence in the rear yard.

The first notice was mailed to the residents.

On December 29th, the property was reinspected, and all the violations were still present.

A final notice was sent to the property.

We were advised by a Tempe Care 7 team member that the owner of the property, Kinton Brown, may have passed away several weeks ago.

There was no other information or family members located on the utility bill.

On January 14th of 26, the property was reinspected and all of it, and all the violations still exist.

I received the final correction notice back as return mail labeled vacant and deceased.

I left a pink flour.

I'm sorry, yes, ma'am.

I left a pink flyer with my contact information at the property in hopes of a family or friend would see it and reach out and make contact.

On January 20th, 26th, we received an anonymous complaint via 311 for overheight grass and weeds at the property.

On January 21st, 26 and January 23rd, the property was reinspected and still in violation.

No contact was ever received from the pink flyer left at the residence.

On March 20th, 26th, a notice of intent to abate was mailed and posted to the property for today's hearing for 2126.

I would now like to excuse me.

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

Thank you.

As you can see in this first photo, this is a picture of the front of the house.

There is some deterioration over here on the side.

It's actually lapping over into the driveway and the sidewalk.

I thought I recognized this property when I saw it in my packet.

It's distinctive architecture.

Just those two windows kind of make it stand out.

Yes, ma'am, with all the brick.

This is just a side view of the front yard, just kind of shows the rest of it.

On the end here, you can see all the way down.

There is some structure of the sidewalks kind of grown in there.

You can see all the overhigh grass and weeds all throughout the front of the yard and on the side here.

Thank you.

This picture is up by the front door.

As you can see, there's a lot more overhigh grass and weeds here.

And then over here to the right next to the uh recycle bin, there's piles of trash that have kind of accumulated over time by the front door area.

This is a picture.

I tried to get as close as I can, but a zoom in will show that the uh vehicle was uh it's expired registration as of 2025.

Okay.

Here is a front view of the uh vehicle, and you can tell that it was damaged here in the front.

The tires kind of bent sideways, and you can see that it was involved in an accident, and it is inoperable.

Thank you.

A few more photos.

This is of the actual carport of the front.

As you can see, just the pile of debris and trash, uh, furniture, miscellaneous boxes, wood, metal.

There's a box of empty uh milk cartons, uh, just kind of piled all through there.

I'm not sure if there was a tarp at one point, but that is uh destroyed and ripped and torn down, and you can just see the whole carports full of junk trash and debris.

As we move towards the backyard, this is just kind of a side view of the backyard.

Uh, as you can see, the grass and weeds are even higher in the backyard.

Uh, the deteriorated landscape all the way around through the back and the sides all the way up to the back door, and you can see some of the trash is starting to make its way out into the alley area by the fence line here as well.

This is just another photo.

It's kind of hard to see, but I wanted to get a picture.

This is the actual VW van that's oh yeah, been there for several years.

I don't know if there's trees growing around it, but obviously we're gonna address that as well.

Then you can see how high the weeds have taken over in the backyard.

And just a last photo kind of showing you all the overhigh grass and weeds and the junk trash debris and stuff that's starting to accumulate here.

And you can see the fence that we address.

It's not even really a fence, it's all destroyed and damaged and falling apart.

Okay, thank you.

You're welcome, man.

As I stated before, I'm seeking 180 day open abatement for the violations of overhigh grass and weeds and dead trees and inoperable vehicles located at the property of 1201 West Maliwoo Drive Tempe.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

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

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online.

Okay, and if you can for the record, make tell me is there anyone in the chamber other than City of Tempe staff?

Yeah, Madam Hearing Officer, just city staff in the chambers, no one else.

Okay, thank you.

Well, given the um uncertain state of the ownership, unfortunately, it sounds like Mr.

Brown has passed away, so I think that makes this property even more appropriate for the 180 day open abatement.

Um, just so we can stay on top of it and out of courtesy to the neighbors, clean up the property while you know the ownership or sale or whatever of the property is going through the process.

So thank you for your presentation this afternoon.

I'm gonna go ahead and approve the 180-day open abatement requake request contained in CE257574 for the property located at 1208 West Malibu Drive.

Yes, ma'am, thank you.

And don't sit down because I believe you are the next presenter for the uh request to abate public nuisance items at the Moore Trust property.

This property is located at 438 West Hermosa Drive.

The applicant is City of Tempe Code Compliance, and again, represented by John Salazar.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Madam Hearing Officer.

As I stated earlier, my name is John Salazar.

I'm a code inspector supervisor with the City of Tempe Community Enhancement Division.

I'm here this evening to request 180-day open abatement for the property you described located at 438 West Hermosa Drive, Arizona 85282.

This case was initiated by a public complaint on October 28th, 25 for deteriorated roof, uh roof trim, broken window, deteriorated carport ceiling, and a deteriorated landscape throughout the front and rear of the property.

I've not had any communication with the property owner.

Just for information, this property was previously abated several months ago.

On October 29th, 25, the property was inspected and found to be in the violation of all the violations above mentioned, including a dead tree in the front yard.

On November 12th, 25, the property was reinspected, and all the violations were still present.

The first notice was mailed to the property owner on November 13th of 25.

On December 22nd, 25, the property was reinspected, and no corrections were made at this time.

The final notice was mailed to the property owner on December 26th of 25.

On the dates of January 7th and January 22nd of 26, the property was reinspected and no corrections were made towards the violations.

On February 17, 26, the property was reinspected again, and the violations were still present.

A citation was issued for a deteriorated roof, broken window, and deteriorated landscaping to include a dead tree.

The owner failed to appear for the citation.

On March 20th, 26th, a notice of intent to abate was mailed and posted to the property for this hearing today, April 24th, 2026.

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

Thank you.

First photo is just a picture of the front of the property.

As you can see, this uh large tree here is deteriorated, actually falling over, the roots uprooted, and all of the dead branches and everything else almost strike in the house here.

You can see some over high grass and weeds starting to appear here in the front as well.

Second photo here still of the front yard.

As you can see, this whole front tree is overgrown here where it's starting to go into the driveway.

Just a bunch of overgrowth there.

Is of the side yard as you can see.

I try to get as close as I can.

You can see the overhigh grass and weeds starting to accumulate here on the side of the driveway.

It's like I said, that whole tree is kind of overgrown, starting to go into the driveway and everything else here.

Wow.

Moving on to the backyard.

This is kind of like a uh north-south view, if you will.

As you can see, all throughout every side, every angle of the back, all these over high grass and weeds throughout the whole backyard.

They're up all over the side of the house as well on both sides.

And then just more of a side view from east to west, as you can just see, it's all along the back fence alley, all over the sides here of the backyard, the overhide grass and weeds as well.

Wow.

Madam Hearing, excuse me, Madam Hearing Officer.

As I stated before, I'm seeking 180-day open abatement for the abatable violations of deteriorated landscaping throughout the property to include a dead tree.

Thank you.

And just no communication whatsoever from the property owner, correct?

That's correct.

No communication at all.

Okay.

Um once again, Mr.

DeFara, is there anyone on the line wanting to talk about this agenda item?

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online, and just general staff in attendance.

Great.

Thank you.

Uh well, I believe the photographs speak for themselves.

Um, it's been over six months, I believe, that we've been um keeping track of this property.

And I believe that as Mr.

Salazar said, um, the property is in dire need of abatement.

So I'm going to go ahead and approve the 180-day open abatement request for the property located at 438 West Hermosa contained in application CE256732.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Have a good night.

As I mentioned previously, agenda item number four um has been that property has been brought into compliance.

Um, so we are not going to hear agenda item number four this afternoon.

Um, that takes us to agenda item number five, which is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the Wynn property located at 1307 East Broadmoor Drive.

The applicant is the city of Tempe Code Compliance represented this afternoon, I believe, by Code Inspector Michael Zappolo.

Yes, madam hearing officer.

It's Michael Zippolo.

Zapolo, I'm sorry.

I figured I could go one of two ways, so I guessed wrong.

Well, thank you, madam hearing officer.

Uh, again, my name is Michael Zapolo.

I'm a 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 1307 East Broadmoor Drive in Tempe, Arizona, 85282.

This case was initiated on November 24th, 2025 for a deteriorated landscape.

On November 25th, 2025, this violation, in addition to a green pool and vegetation in the alley was verified.

And I sent the first notice to the owner, Danny Newian, and the current resident.

On 12925, I reinspected the property.

It was still not in compliance.

So final notice was sent to the owner and previous parties.

On 1223, 25, I reinspected the property, which was still in violation.

I left a door hanger on the door with my contact information for the residents to contact me.

I also attempted to call Danny Newian and left a voicemail for him, which was not returned.

On 121 26, a citation was issued to the owner, Danny Newian.

On February 4th, 2026, the defendant owner failed to appear in a grace period passed.

The case was sent to collections.

On February 27th, 2026, I posted a notice of intent to abate the property on the front door and mailed it to the property owner's address.

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

Thank you.

Thank you.

Some work has been done on the property.

This is not a grass landscape.

So all the roots and grass still exists in the front yard.

So it's like they just plowed it down with the weed eater.

Yep, yep.

Yes, that's accurate.

Pretty much.

Okay.

This is the other side profile of the front yard.

As you can see, there's still all the over all the grass roots and uh it extends out into the sidewalk.

And even though they're not over high, that's what constitutes deteriorated, correct?

Yes, ma'am.

Gravel landscape has to be clear of all of it.

Okay, thank you.

And this is the rear alley.

Uh where you could see they put all the grass clippings, but over here you can still see the over high grass and weeds and uh deteriorated uh landscape in the back.

So as stated before, I'm seeking uh 180 day open abatement for violations of Tempe City Code, deteriorated landscape and grade pool for the 1307 East Broadmoor Drive, Tempe, Arizona.

Address.

Thank you, Mr.

Zapolo.

Uh Mr.

DeFarris, anyone on the line wanting to talk about this case?

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online.

Thank you.

And I assume no one has walked into the chamber wanting to speak about this case.

No, just city staff in the chambers.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um, well, again, there was minimal progress, which you know is good on the property owner's part, but it looks like they just did the very bare minimum.

Um, and unfortunately, it's not quite enough to bring it into full compliance.

So you did request 180 days, correct?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Um, yeah, I think that's appropriate in this regard because even though he did a little bit, I do think that um you need to stay on top of it over the next six months.

So I'm gonna go ahead and approve your 180-day open abatement request for the property located at 1307 East Broadmoor Drive, contained in application CE2573.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That brings us to agenda item number six.

This is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the new capitulous LLC property located at 619 West 12th Street.

The applicant is the City of Tempe Code Compliance, represented this afternoon by Kevin Kowalski.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, madam hearing officer.

Uh my name's a stated before.

My name is Kevin Kowalse.

I'm a code compliance supervisor with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I'm here this evening to request a hundred day, 180-day open abatement for the property located at 619 West 12th Street, Tempe, Arizona 85281.

This case uh was initiated on a complaint on December 2nd of 2025 for overgrown grass and weeds.

Inspector Young verified the violation and sent a original first notice to the property owner, which I believe is pronounced Nuka Petulu, LLC, uh care of care of Tim Wright as the statutory agent.

On December 16th of 2025, Inspector, you won back to the property, reinspected it, and it was still not in compliance, so a final notice was sent to that same owner.

Uh January 5th, the of 2026.

This case was reassigned to me.

I inspected the property, which is still not in compliance.

And at this time I called and left a voicemail for the tenant whom I had worked with before by the name of Jude Kingston.

Uh four days later on January 9th.

No contact was received from the tenant.

Uh I sent a new and revised final notice to the owner for additional violations of having a deteriorated roof, junk, trash, and debris, which were large tree stumps in the front and side yard of the residents, over high grass and weeds, and uh a rental house without landscaping andor deteriorated landscaping.

A couple of weeks later, on January 23rd, I received no response from the tenant, and I left a pink door hanger on the front door.

Uh later that day, uh tenant Mr.

Kingston called back and said he had spoken with the owner, uh, Tim Wright, and he was told that Mr.

Wright's crew was running behind and that he would get back to the tenant with a timeline for the cleanup.

I didn't hear anything back, and fast forward to February 10th.

The property was reinspected and no change had occurred.

At this point, the citation was issued to the owner, Nuca Petulo, LLC care of Tim Wright.

Two weeks uh passed, and the defendant failed to appear, and the grace period had also passed.

Uh subsequently, the case was sent to collections.

On March 18th of this year, I posted a notice of intent to abate to the property on the front door and also mailed it to the property owner's business address.

And at this time, I would like to present photos taken today of the existing violations.

Thank you.

You are welcome.

So if you're making a comparison of the photos that were initially sent when the notice to abate was uh presented, um some of the grass over high grass and weeds have been trimmed down.

But as you can see in this photo, there are still large open barren areas of uh no grass or landscaping in the front yard.

This is the first uh photo we'll see from the front of the property, which has the large tree stumps, which have been uh in place and have remained since the large storm the city had that last October of 2025.

So no pic.

Here's another picture of the front yard uh just from a different side angle.

You can start to see two large tree stumps still present in the front yard, maybe a better view of the deteriorated landscaping up front, and then here's a first picture of another tree stump, uh still mostly embedded in the front yard landscaping.

This is looking back from the front of the house towards the west.

Just another view of both uh stumps, large stumps that are still present.

How about the motor home?

Is that registered?

Is it uh the abatement?

That's a new one that showed up today, ma'am.

I don't uh have any information.

I wasn't able to see any registration uh from my point of view.

Okay.

So this is a look from the east side of the property facing west across the front yard.

Here's the tree stump that's still mostly embedded, and the two uh tree stumps in the foreground.

Here's just a large close-up uh picture of the tree stump to give it some perspective on the general overall size that still remains in the front yard landscaping.

Here's a picture from the northeast corner of the property.

Um this is along the east side uh of the main structure.

Um this has the third spot of third car portion, which used to be all gravel and fit within code, but has now since been filled in by uh dead grass and weeds.

It's hard to see the gravel even underneath the boat and trailer, and then along this way is the east side of the property, which has a larger amount of uh grass and weeds, as you can see as you travel back towards the rear of the property.

The final photo, ma'am, is from the very southeast corner of the property looking back towards that uh trailer and boat, and you can see a long stretch of uh grass, dead grass and weeds and living grass and weeds in this area.

They'll run all along the east side of the property.

Thank you.

Nuisance codes uh for junk trash and debris and the tree stumps and deteriorated landscaping for the property at 619 West 12th Street, Tempe, Arizona, 85281.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

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

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online, and just uh city staff in the chambers.

Thank you.

Well, it's not that I lack compassion.

I know we had that huge storm um October 13th, I think it was last year.

Um, but it has been six months since then, and it strikes me as the city.

If we go in and abate this, we may be doing Mr.

Wright a favor by taking away those huge stumps because that is not an easy task.

Um, and then of course we can clean up the rest of the property, which desperately needs it as well.

Um, so I am gonna go ahead and approve your 180-day open abatement request for the property located at 619 West 12th Street, contained in KCE257503.

Thank you.

Have a good night.

Thank you, ma'am.

You too.

That brings us to agenda item number seven.

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

This property is located at 1702 East Drake Drive.

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

Good afternoon.

Hi Madame Hearing Officer.

As stated, my name is Melissa Ensing, and I'm code and 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 1702 East Drake Drive.

Melissa, can you drop that mic?

There you go.

Can you hear me?

Is that better?

Better.

I'm here this evening to request a 100-day open abatement for the property located at 1702 East Drake Drive, Tempe, Arizona, 85283.

This case was initiated on October 20th, 2025 for deteriorated landscape and trash and debris.

I have sent three notices to the property owner for deteriorated landscape that entails grass and weeds in the gravel front and side yards, overheight grass and weeds in the rear yard, uncultivated vegetation in the alley, dead portions of trees and bushes all throughout the property and deteriorated pool.

One citation was issued to the owner on January 21st, 2026.

The owner failed to appear in court.

And this time I would like to present photos taken today of the existing violations.

Thank you.

In this photo, it's the front of the property.

As you can see, the overheight grass and weeds growing in the gravel landscaping.

It's encroaching onto the sidewalk as well.

And this picture is the side gravel area next to the driveway.

As you can see, how high all the grass and weeds are growing in the gravel.

And then there's vegetation also growing in this driveway itself.

Wow.

And this picture, it's hard to see, but there is a fan that's in the middle of all that grass and weeds.

Like a ceiling fan.

Yes.

Oh there's a trash can next to it.

Um again, it's hard to see it.

Yeah.

But that shows how tall those weeds are.

Yes, ma'am.

All right.

And then this is a picture of the alleyway behind the property.

As you can see, all the grass and weeds that are growing.

It's halfway up the rear gate.

And it's all the way down.

Wow.

And this picture is the rear yard.

As you can see, the overheight grass and weeds along with the dead, it's dying.

The deteriorated pool.

There's debris inside of it as well as that you can't see through it.

The water.

Oh, and that's gonna get bad as it heats up if we don't do something.

Yes, ma'am.

And then here's a closer view of the pool showing how deteriorated it is.

But the home is occupied.

Um, I believe it's vacant.

Oh, okay.

Um got it.

And then here's another view of the side yard in the backyard, as it's all the overheight grass and weeds goes all the way back, and there's a screen that's just leaning against the house.

Um, and then also the dead branches um on the tree.

As stated before, I am seeking a 180-day open abatement for the deteriorated landscape, trash and debris, deteriorated pool located at 1702 East Drake Drive, Tempe, Arizona, 85283 property.

Thank you so much.

Um, Mr.

Defara, anyone on the line?

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online, and again, just city staff in the chambers.

Thank you.

Well, it's been six months, and evidently the property owner has not um been responsive at all to any of your notices.

And being that it's vacant, they're probably they're not on the property to see its condition.

So it definitely merits a 180-day open abatement.

So I'm gonna approve um the one 180-day open abatement for the property located at 1702 East Drake Drive, contained in case CE256520.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That brings us to the last item on our agenda this afternoon.

This is a request for approval to abate public nuisance items at the three country amigos LLC property located at 1313 East Wesleyan Drive.

The applicant is the city of Tempe, represented once again this afternoon by Code Inspector Michael Zapolo.

Thank you, Madam Hearing Officer.

Again, my name is Michael Zapolo.

I'm a code inspector with the City of Tempe Code Compliance Division.

I'm here this evening to request 180-day open abatement for the property located at 1313 East Westlean Drive, Tempe, Arizona, 85282.

This case was initiated on November 6, 2025 for a deteriorated landscape.

On November 7th, 2025, this violation, in addition to junk trash debris in the front and side yard was verified, and I sent a first notice to the owner, three amigos LLC, the statutory agent, as well as the tenant.

On 121925, I attempted to call the last known resident of the home with negative results.

The phone was not accepting phone calls.

A revised final notice was placed on the door of the property due to all mail being returned.

On 11626, the property was reinspected.

No change was observed.

A citation was issued to the owner, three country amigos LLC, care of the statutory agent.

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

You're welcome.

This is one picture of it.

It does have some debris in the pool.

And you can see uh some kind of debris floating around in it.

Yeah.

And there's a little wild animal back there.

Little coyote was living on uh property.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

It's a nice little crash pad for a coyote.

This is uh a little better picture showing the entire pool and the deterioration.

And this is the deteriorated landscape in the rear alley.

As you can see, the over high grass and weeds extends all the way down the wall.

So as stated before, I'm seeking a hundred and day 180-day open abatement for violations of city code, deteriorated landscape and green pool.

And as previously stated junk trash debris has been abated.

For the property located at 1313 East Westlean Drive, Tempe, Arizona, 85282.

Thank you.

Um, Mr.

DeFari, anyone on the line?

Madam Hearing Officer, no one online, and just city staff in the chambers.

Great.

Thank you.

Well, once again, this case is almost approaching six months.

Um, and there's just been the minimal progress, which again is helpful, but just doesn't quite get us where we need to be to consider the property in full compliance with the code.

Um, and given the history of the property and how long it took for that minimal progress to be made.

Um, I'm going to go ahead and approve your 180-day open abatement request uh for the property, as you said, at 1313 East Wesleyan Drive, contained in case CE256996.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Have a great night.

Um, that concludes our agenda this afternoon, Mr.

DeFara.

Any announcements?

Madam Hearing Officer, one announcement.

Our next hearing officer is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5th, 2026, here in the council chambers and live on Tempe 11.

Great.

A Cinco de Mayo party.

There we go.

Yeah.

Abatements in Cinco de Mayo.

Yes.

Well, thank you so much, you guys.

Have a good night.

We're adjourned.

Thank you.