City of Tempe Hearing Officer: July 21, 2026 – Abatement Approvals and Meeting Minutes
City of Tempe Hearing Officer: July 21, 2026 – Abatement Approvals and Meeting Minutes
On Tuesday, July 21, 2026, the City of Tempe Hearing Officer, Vanessa McDonald, conducted a public hearing to address code violations. The agenda included approval of prior meeting minutes and four property abatement requests, all of which were approved as 180-day open abatements. No members of the public attended or provided testimony.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes from the June 2, 2026 hearing officer meeting. Hearing Officer McDonald stated the minutes accurately reflected the proceedings.
Discussion Items
- 128 East Garfield Street (Case CE256613): Code Compliance Inspector Michael Moreno requested a 180-day open abatement for deteriorated landscape, trash and debris, and a deteriorated fence. The case began October 24, 2025, after an anonymous complaint. Multiple notices and inspections occurred, with partial progress on the fence but continued violations including dead trees, overheight grass, junk (concrete, metal, wood), and debris obstructing sidewalks and alleys. The property owner, John Crossman, had sporadic communication and paid a citation but remained non-compliant. The abatement was granted.
- 205 East Hermosa Drive (Case CE260324): Code Inspector Supervisor John Salazar requested a 180-day open abatement for junk, trash, debris, and dead palm fronds. The case began January 15, 2026, after a public complaint. Despite multiple correction notices and contact with the Spanish-speaking owner, Jesus Hernandez, only minor front-yard grass removal was made. The backyard remained filled with stacked debris, appliances, and deteriorated palm fronds. A citation was sent to collections after the owner failed to appear in court. The abatement was granted.
- 1312 West Elnoray Street (Case CE261509): Code Compliance Supervisor Kevin Kowalski requested a 180-day open abatement for deteriorated landscape. The case began March 11, 2026, after Inspector Zapolo observed overgrown grass, weeds, dead vegetation, and obstructed sidewalks. The owner, Patrick Michelson, was uncooperative, disconnected phone calls, and did not appear in court after a citation. A “trespassers will be shot” sign was noted on the property. Minimal progress was made, and the abatement was granted.
- 1240 East El Parque Drive (Case CE261356): Code Compliance Inspector Scott Lean requested a 180-day open abatement for junk, trash, debris, and deteriorated landscape (including a pool, though no longer an issue). The case began March 4, 2026. The property owner, Alicia L. Angel, had limited contact but responded via email on July 16, 2026, indicating work in progress. Some progress was noted: sidewalk obstruction cleared, palm fronds trimmed, and some trash removed. However, junk (clothes, coolers, boxes) and deteriorated landscape remained. The abatement was granted with recognition of partial compliance.
Key Outcomes
- All four abatement requests were approved as 180-day open abatements, allowing the City to enter the properties and abate violations if owners do not comply.
- The hearing officer noted that property owners have two weeks before abatement actions begin and encouraged continued progress.
- A fifth agenda item (case for 1240 East El Parque Drive originally listed as item 5) was continued to a future date certain because the property had been sold and will require re-advertisement.
- The next hearing officer meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the chambers and live on Tempe 11.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, no, I got it. It's green when it's not lit, and then it's brighter green when it is lit. Yeah. Okay, thank you. It's it's too dim. Did he say? Okay. Okay. Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, and this is the hearing for this month for City of Tempe Hearing Officer. My name's Vanessa McDonald, and I'm gonna be conducting the hearing this afternoon. I'm gonna read something into the record, and then we can go ahead and jump into our agenda. 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 of Tempe. 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 five items. We have a set of minutes from June 2nd, 2026, and we have four property abatements. Today we will likely hear that at a future date. Um when they were delivered to me after the hearing, and I believe that they accurately reflect what took place at that hearing. The applicant is the City of Tempe, represented this afternoon by Code Compliance 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 1 to 8 East Garfield Street, Tempe, Arizona, 8528. This case was initiated on October 24th, 2025, after code compliance received an anonymous complaint about a deteriorated landscape, trash and debris in the front and rear properties, and a deteriorated fence. On October 24th, 2025, an initial inspection was conducted, and the violations were confirmed at that time. The first notice was mailed to the property owner, John Crossman. On November 25th, 2025, a follow-up inspection was conducted at the property, and the violations had not been corrected. A final notice was mailed out to the property owner, John Crossman. On December 29th, 2025, another follow-up inspection was conducted at the property. The violations had not been corrected, but there was progress with the deteriorated fence. From January 12th, 2026 to January 28th, progress had been made to correct the violations on the property, and I had attempted to contact Mr. Crossman multiple times with no answer. On February 10th, 2026, I conducted another follow-up inspection at the property. The violations still had not been corrected. I was able to contact Mr. Crossman by the phone, and due to progress being made on the property and no additional complaints, I granted the second extension. On March 27, 2026, a citation was issued to the property owner, John Crossman. The fines have been paid for that citation. On May 26, 2026, a notice of intent to abate was mailed to the property owner, John Crossman, and posted to the property. Okay, so the pictures I have in my packet are dated May 26th. So these pictures were taken after progress was made on the property. Correct, yes. So this first photo here is taken on the north side of the property facing south. This is kind of an overview of the front of the property. I know it's a little bit difficult to see here, but we do have some deteriorated overheight grass and weeds. There's lots of bald spots, as well as uh very tall, inconsistent landscaping here, as well as on the side in this back corner. Uh I'll show in my next photo.
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