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BY TOM SCANLON West Valley View Managing Editor

A proposed “cross-dock” transportation project looming on West Camelback Road near the Loop 303 has brought protest from nearby Goodyear and Litchfield Park residents.

The cities of Litchfield Park and Goodyear also raised concerns in letters to Maricopa County, as the Falcon Golf Course—site of the proposed Kiernan West transportation facility development—is in unincorporated Maricopa County.

Goodyear City Manager Julie Arendall sent an April 16 letter to Jen Pokorski, director of Maricopa County Planning and Development, regarding the cross-dock proposal.

“The consensus of our city council is to oppose the project,” Arendall wrote.

She cited “deep concern with the impacted quality of life for residents in the adjacent neighborhoods. The proposed 24/7 operation, along with increased volumes of truck traffic on Camelback Road, will have a negative impact on these communities.”

Yet Goodyear’s own Economic Development Department map shows

Camelback Center/Camelback 303,

a similar cross-dock project less than 2 miles from the golf course.

Sunbelt Investments is the owner of the property at West Camelback Road and Pebble Creek Parkway.

“The first building in this multiphase project will consist of site improvements on 32 acres and a single 500,000-square-foot cross-dock speculative building,” states the description on the Goodyear Development Map.

Camelback Center is closer to the Loop 303 than the KW proposal—but KW has said almost all of its truck traffic will travel west on Camelback Road to the 303.

“Why is Camelback Center approved by Goodyear but Falcon Golf Course being challenged?” the West Valley View asked Goodyear spokeswoman Corrine Holiday.

The response: “The city of Goodyear has approved the TIA (traffic impact analysis) for the southeast corner of Camelback and PebbleCreek as the study/analysis meets the city’s requirements.”

She added the KW project information provided to Goodyear “was inadequate to conduct a complete review.” •What could be more “essential” than buying or selling a home?

But all those documents to sign and file…

Buckeye’s Pioneer Title Agency at

4252 N. Verrado Way is one West Valley business helping residents with critical real estate needs, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

No, you can’t “get fries with that,” but the title agency is offering curbside service and other measures to maintain minimal contact at safe distances. When Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order allowing Arizonans to use Remote Online Notarization (RON), Pioneer Title was ready. “We trained a full staff of notaries and are able to begin offering RON for real estate transactions immediately and at no additional charge,” Pioneer Title’s Lesa Connell said.

In order to use RON, the buyer, seller, lender, underwriter and escrow support must all approve its use, which Pioneer can assist with as well.

The Buckeye Pioneer Title branch, as well as several other branches across the West Valley, including Glendale, Arrowhead Ranch, Peoria, Goodyear and Surprise, are also offering “curbside signings” for those who only have minimal paperwork that needs to be processed. A team member comes to the customer’s car in a mask and gloves to help expedite the process with no contact.

To facilitate more complex paperwork, the office is open, with glass windows allowing customers to pass documents while social distancing.

“As an essential business, it is our job not only to help people finalize their critical real estate transactions but to do it in the safest way possible for everyone,” Romero said.

For more information, visit ptaaz. com. Sorry, no fries with that — but Buckeye’s Pioneer Title Agency offers curbside service. (Photo courtesy Pioneer Title)

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WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | MAY 6, 2020 BUSINESS Coming soon: More jobless benefits

BY MACKINLEY LUTES-ADLHOCH Cronkite News

Arizona unemployment benefits will expand this month to cover workers who are not now eligible, to last longer than before and to pay more in weekly benefits to some jobless workers.

The changes, which take effect May 12, are part of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that all states are rolling out under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the $2 trillion federal relief package approved last month.

Under the new rules, benefits will be available to the self-employed, people seeking part-time work and people who lack sufficient work history. It also includes federal funds that extend benefits to 39 weeks for some workers and can add $600 a week to unemployment checks.

The Department of Economic Security said last week that it had contracted with a private firm to help speed the delivery of benefits under the expand

ed program.

“We recognize the critical importance of these benefits for Arizonans who are out of work due to COVID-19,” DES Director Tom Betlach said in the statement.

“We will continue to put forward all available resources, including working nights and weekends, to stand up this brand-new program to get individuals the help they need.”

But critics said it should not have taken this long to roll out a program that was approved in late March.

“We’re seeing a lot of unnecessary and unacceptable delays, and Gov. Ducey needs to answer for that,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, in a statement.

“Families need to pay rent and put food on the table, and they can’t wait around for weeks while the DES flounders.”

Gallego said lawmakers have been pushing for an upgrade to DES technology since he was in the Legislature six

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years ago and “it shouldn’t have taken them this long to hire outside help.”

“Other states are way ahead of us in providing payments and we should be looking to them for guidance,” he said.

Despite the delay, DES said payments will be made retroactively for those who are determined to be eligible.

While expanded benefits will help now, advocates said the lack of longterm plan will leave people struggling.

Cynthia Zwick, the executive director of Wildfire, an Arizona advocacy group to end poverty, said Arizonans could be in major trouble when the $600 federal payment expires at the end of July. She said Arizona unemployment benefits, which range from $117 to $240 per week, are currently among the lowest in the country.

“It could cause some serious financial problems for folks if the $600 goes away and folks are still needing to receive unemployment insurance,” she said.

Andrew Sugrue, an economic policy analyst with the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, said the state’s unemployment insurance policies are restrictive and insufficient to address problems caused by the pandemic.

“A lot of states, including Arizona, were not ready for PUA from the getgo,” he said.

Sugrue said the amount of unemployment benefits should be tied to the severity of the incident. That is not the case for COVID-19, he said.

Zwick said her organization has heard complaints from people seeking unemployment who say they are not hearing back from DES once they file, a lag she blamed on the agency’s lack of up-to-date technology.

“The fact that our technical systems, our computer systems are so old and not current, that just exacerbates the problem we would have faced,” she said.

“Having to create an entirely new database system to manage this and still trying to serve folks is not a recipe for success.”

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