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THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 26, 2022
Mental health hospital planned for tech corridor
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
Mental health provider Acadia Healthcare is seeking city planners’ approval for a 100-bed behavioral health hospital north of Elliot and Ellsworth Roads in southeast Mesa. The city Design Review Board considered site plans for the one-story, 73,720 square-foot building on June 14. According to Mesa planning department staff, the city determined the facility falls under the definition of a hospital or clinic, which is allowed in the parcel’s current light industrial zoning. That means the project is eligible for administrative approval, meaning it won’t need city council approval. However, due to concerns raised by the public, the applicant elected to process the site plan as a zoning application, a city planner said, so the project will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Board. The hospital will still not require council approval, the planner said, unless the Planning and Zoning Board’s decision is appealed. The facility is proposed for a vacant 12acre site at the northwest corner of Ellsworth Road and Peterson Avenue. The in-patient hospital would have a floor area of 73,720 square feet plus five activity yards totaling almost 30,000 square feet. The yards which are secured with 12-foot walls. Arcadia’s design includes plans for two possible future additions, including 4,270 square feet for an additional 20 beds and a 6,570 square foot outpatient clinic. The site plan provides 229 parking spaces, one more than the 228 required under the zoning. The footprint of the hospital and roadways will take up about 46% of the site. More than 75% of the remaining space on the site will be landscaped. The landscape plan calls for 298 new desertadapted trees to be planted on the property, among other features. “Arizona has a shortage of behavioral health beds and resources,” Arcadia wrote the Tribune. “We know this new hospital will expand access to quality be-
The proposed behavioral health hospital would be located on 12 acres on the northwest corner of Ellsworth Road and Peterson Avenue. (City of Mesa)
Acadia Healthcare proposes multiple units for treating various mental illnesses. . (City of Mesa) havioral health care services, providing healing and hope to those in need in Mesa and the surrounding communities.” Acadia Healthcare currently has three facilities in the Phoenix-metro area: An opioid treatment center in Scottsdale, an in-patient hospital in Chandler and an “intensive outpatient center” in Scottsdale. In documents submitted with the application for the Mesa project, Arcadia said the company currently operates 230 health care facilities in 40 states and Puerto Rico. “Acadia is the largest stand-alone behavioral health company in the U.S.,” the company states on its website. “Acadia provides behavioral healthcare services to its patients in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, specialty treatment facilities, residential treatment centers and outpatient clinics.” According to project documents, the inpatient facility will be split into five units, serving both adolescents and adults. One adult psychiatric unit will focus on thought disorders while another will be for people with mood disorders. There also will be an adult dual diagnosis unit and an older adult/geriatric psychiatric unit. There also will be treatment of trauma and stress-related disorders as well as a psychiatric unit for children and teens. According to its website, Acadia’s in-patient hospitals provide 24/7 care for individuals experiencing mental health crises. Services include detoxification from drugs and alcohol, medication management, individual therapy, group and family therapy, and experiential therapy. Other planned or existing projects in the vicinity of the new behavioral health hospital include a Dignity Health medical office building, a mixed-use medical office and commercial center, the Elliott Gateway commercial warehouse complex, the Mesa Elliott Technology Park and the Comarch Data Center.
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3 Arizona mourns Queen Creek Mayor Barney
BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney, whose public service had an impact far beyond the town that was his home since he was 6 months old, died June 23 after a months-long battle with a lung infection. He was 74. Tributes from across the state, including the Governor’s Office, not only noted that impact but also recalled his humility and friendly demeanor that endeared him to everyday residents and public officials alike. “He was totally void of ego,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said, recalling how Mayor Barney made Queen Creek “an important part of the East Valley but on a personal level, he was very humble. And so that made him just remarkably easy to work with.” Gov. Doug Ducey ordered all state flags to fly at half-mast last Friday and hailed Mayor Barney’s contributions. Stating “he cared greatly about his community and all those who called it home,” Ducey said: “Under Mayor Barney, the Town of Queen Creek has become one of the fastest growing municipalities in the nation, attracting industry giants and many new residents. His vision and leadership helped make that growth possible." “He was committed to fostering economic growth and creating opportunities for Queen Creek’s growing population. His legacy as a humble public servant who cared for his community will live on,” Ducey said. Roc Arnett, the former longtime leader of the PHX East Valley Partnership, recalled Mayor Barney's humility with a fond memory of working with him for 20 years in the Maricopa Association of Governments, stating: "Many times, he would attend those meetings in his Levi’s with a little mud yet on his boots having come from his field irrigating. Reflecting on Mayor Barney’s loss reminds me of the entire Barney Family who have contributed to the growth, development, and stature of our great East Valley." Former Gilbert Mayor John Lewis, now the Partnership's president/CEO, said “I always enjoyed listening to stories from Mayor Gail. He spent his whole life in the town that he loved and as mayor, it showed. His heart was in the community – always thinking and asking, ‘what is in the best interest of our citizens now and in the future?’” Lewis recalled walking around the then newly-opened Horseshoe Park. “We had the best time wearing our cowboy hats together,” Lewis said. “He laughed at me and said, ‘You’re not a real cowboy, but you look like you could be!’ In other words, with his positive attitude, he was telling me that I had potential. He looked for the good in others and could always see their potential. “I laughed when Mayor Gail told me that one night he needed to rush the end of a council meeting. He said, ‘I did not want to end the meeting until all of our town business was addressed, but I needed to get home to turn on and watch the irrigation water.'” Maricopa County Supervisor Jack Sellers said, “The passing of Mayor Barney is truly a blow to those of us who knew him as a friend and a great leader. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him in many capacities over the years and I was always impressed with the sincerity in which he served our community.” Queen Creek Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry said, “Mayor Barney was a good friend of mine and I am very sorry about his passing. We both shared a love for the outdoors
The town provided this official photo of Mayor Gail Barney. (Town of Queen Creek)
and hunting. We would often share pictures, stories, and I loved hearing about his hunting trips. He was a good man, and will be greatly missed.” The district Governing Board issued a joint statement praising his support and saying, “We see the impact of this wonderful founding family in the town’s culture, traditions, and in our public institutions. His legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of all who live here and through our schools and our students. He will be truly missed.” Mayor Barney became a Queen Creek resident as a toddler in 1948 and worked on his family’s farm – which ultimately inspired his road to service. “Mayor Barney often shared he was having trouble crossing Germann Road on his tractor, so he got involved and never looked back,” the town said in its statement. He started his public life on the Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission in 1998 and served there until 2002, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Town Council. In that time, Mayor Barney was instrumental in helping the town achieve many of the milestones in its development, including the opening of Ellsworth Loop, starting a fire department, and building municipal water services. “Mayor Barney embodied what it meant to be QC neighborly – while his years of leadership and dedication will leave a legacy in the Queen Creek community – he will be sincerely missed,” the town statement said. In 2010, he was elected mayor and continued to help the town make strategic advancements, helping to make Queen Creek the first municipality in Arizona to have a fully funded pension system and launching the town’s police department. In 2014, Mayor Barney was highlighted in a League of Arizona Cities and Towns newsletter in which he said one of his proudest achievements was helping the town through the Great Recession with reduced staff and limited resources. “Queen Creek even saw an increase to our credit rating - one of only nine communities in the nation,” he said. “I credit this to having such great, dedicated employees and a town council that worked together to make tough decisions.” He also said the town’s biggest challenge at that time was ensuring enough resources for its infrastructure. “We are building a community from scratch, and still have two-thirds of our infrastructure needed to serve our buildout population of about 95,000,” he said. MayorBarney also served on the Maricopa Association of Governments in various capacities since 2006, including his appointment to the Regional Council in 2010 and served as chairman of the Regional Council in 2018 for one year. His influence also impacted the East Valley in other ways, notably in the development of Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport. East Valley Partnership Vice President Mike Hutchinson recalled, “He was active with Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport for a long time. He was just a really good guy in terms of rolling up this sleeves and working on issues and participating. “Being a guy who showed up, if there was a meeting, there was an event, there was somebody we had a talk about lobbying, Gail was always game to be in the mix. …He didn’t care if you were the in-
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 26, 2022 tern or another mayor: he just treated everybody well.” Though his illness had sidelined him from Town Council meetings since April, Mayor Barney remained active apparently right up until the day he died. Giles said he was shocked to hear of his passing because Mayor Barney had joined by phone the June 21 meeting of the Gateway airport authority board and had been on the phone with him and other mayors for a MAG conference call on June 22. Under the Town Code, Vice Mayor Jeff Brown will continue to perform the duties as mayor. Mayor Barney is survived by his wife Pam, three children, 16 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Details about remembrances and services have not been made available yet. Lewis eulogized him, stating, “Mayor Gail was and is a farmer who knew how to raise crops, a family, and a community. It is always hard to say good-bye to friends, but I am grateful to have known this dedicated, humble, and servant leader, I call my friend, Gail Barney.”
Tribune staff writer Josh Ortega con-
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government, and other specialty property types, including schools and residential communities. It has developed over 43 million square feet of commercial space since 1972 and has over $700 million of additional development in progress. Gateway East has been set aside for specifically non-aviation businesses. Airports receiving federal grants are allowed to engage in non-aviation development for revenue support of operations. By the terms of the federal government’s transfer of the property, which was Williams Air Force base until 1994, the airport can’t sell the land, but it can grant development rights to outside parties. Communications and Government Relations Director Ryan Smith said the revenue generated for the airport from the Gateway East deal would help the airport expand in the future should demand for services increase. By the terms of Gateway East deal, Boyer will pay the airport 55 cents per square foot for developed lots in addition to a 10% revenue share. While Gateway East is devoted to nonaeronautical uses, the airport authority has reserved other space on the east side for a future terminal and aviation-related commercial development. A large chunk of the remaining east side has already been taken by Gulf Stream Aerospace, which recently broke ground on a $100 million maintenance and repair hub. With the Gateway East deal signed, Boyer has a greenlight to begin work on the first phase of 110 acres, composed mostly of industrial development with a small percentage of retail. Boyer’s right to develop the rest of the acreage in Gateway East requires the company to meet benchmarks for development over the next 20 years. The company’s first development deadline comes five years after the signing of the deal, when 500,000 square feet of development and all phase 1 infrastructure must be complete. By year 10, the company must have 1.5 million square feet of development in place and all phase 2 infrastructure. Representatives for Boyer at the meeting were optimistic about Gateway East’s prospects. “We think it’s a great site; we think it has a great future,” Boyer Project Manager Matt Jensen said. Jensen said that long before the deal was signed, the company began fielding calls from prospective tenants. “We’ve been amazed really just over the last probably two months,” Jensen said. “You know, word gets out. We haven’t really been out marketing the property yet, but we’re working on calls. … A lot of good discussions taking place.” Before Boyer starts putting buildings in, there is “horizontal development” that needs to take place, namely roads and utilities. The City of Mesa is contributing to the launch of Gateway East by building the first 1,000 feet of a new road accessing the site, called Gateway Boulevard. The airport and Boyer will share costs on developing the remainder of the road. Airport Authority Business Development Director Shea Joachim said the road is “well on its way in design and it will be under construction shortly.” Smith said outside of the financial arrangement and development benchmarks, Boyer has a lot of autonomy to manage the details of Gateway East. “They’re going to look at what the market is looking for,” Smith said. “Really the sky’s the limit.” This map outlines the various portions of the 270-acre site that will be devoted to
different uses. (Phoenix Message Gateway Airport Authority)
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 26, 2022
Allegiant cutting Mesa flights this summer
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
Americans’ desire to travel is currently strong, but there will be fewer flights leaving and arriving at the East Valley’s major airport this summer. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport CEO J. Brian O’Neill told the airport authority’s board of directors on June 21 that the facility’s largest carrier, Allegiant Airlines, had informed management that it would be cutting about 220 flights servicing Mesa this summer. He told the board the cuts may end the airport’s streak of record-setting months beginning in March, when the airport set an all-time record of nearly 250,000 commercial passengers. The airport set monthly records for passengers in April and May. Like most major airline companies across the country, O’Neill said Allegiant cited a pilot shortage as the reason for the cuts. In a statement to the Tribune, Allegiant wrote, “Earlier this year, due to market conditions, including industry-wide staffing shortages and high fuel prices, we proactively made some capacity reductions to our summer schedule. “Those adjustments were made to ensure the integrity of our operations and deliver our passengers the most reliable Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport has seen ups and downs in flights over the last three and a half years as the pandemic cut into air travel. This chart tracks flights from all carriers using
the airport. (Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport)
service,” the statement continued. “We have been operating that schedule since April and have no further planned changes to capacity for this summer at AZA (Gateway’s airport code). We continue to offer 49 routes out of AZA, flying dozens of times each week.” In the latest air travel consumer report from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Allegiant Air topped the list for highest percentage of cancellations in March, with 5.4%, compared to an overall average of 1.5%. Allegiant also topped the list of lowest on-time arrival rates in March, with 57.2%, just a little lower than Frontier Airlines with 57.8%. At the same time, flight cancellations for all airlines were down in March, according to the DOT data – 1.5% compared with 4.5% in February. March’s overall cancellations were also lower than the 2% recorded in March of 2019, before the pandemic. O’Neill said the airport is expecting to see 45 Allegiant flights cut for June and 90 each month for July and August. “I’m really not sure about the continued string of record setting activity. What we’re hopeful about is that the pilot shortage gets resolved,” O’Neill said. The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest commercial pilots’ union, has pushed back on claims by airlines that pilot shortages are causing cancellations, blaming instead airline mismanagement and poor allocation of federal relief funds during the pandemic. A May release from the ALPA stated that “five of the seven largest passenger air carriers currently have more pilots now than they did in 2019 prior to the pandemic.” In June, ALPA released a statement that the U.S. is training more pilots now than before the pandemic, noting that almost 8,000 have been certified in the last 12 months. Allegiant’s cancellation issues and decision to cut Mesa flights this summer is at odds with plans for expansion. The airline has purchased 50 Boeing 737s, which are slated for delivery next year. An Allegiant representative said in March that some of those new planes would likely be based in Mesa. In late 2021, Allegiant also announced partnership with Mexican airline Viva Aerobus, which could see Allegiant add many destinations south of the border to its U.S. network.
New state budget becomes a boon for education
BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
State lawmakers adopted an $18 billion spending plan early June 23, rebuffing efforts by some Republicans to tear apart the deal. The vote came as Republican legislative leaders, unable to get votes from their own members, cut a deal with Democrats by offering million more in funding for public education than the GOP and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey had proposed. That ensured there would be enough Democrats to offset the Republicans who found the spending proposal too high to support. House Speaker Rusty Bowers told Capitol Media Services the foes may have outsmarted themselves. The Mesa Republican said he made it clear to fellow party members that he needed every one of them to support the spending plan. That’s because the GOP has a one-vote edge in the House; an identical situation exists in the Senate. More to the point, Bowers said he told them that holding out only forces him and Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, to go to the Democrats. He pointed out, though, that the Arizona Constitution gives the Legislature just one mandatory job: adopt a budget. “And that’s what we’re doing,’’ Bowers said, saying he informed them that having to work with Democrats meant it would raise the price tag. The result is that the final budget will immediately add $526 million to base education funding for K-12 schools, an 8.8% increase. That’s $60 million more than the original package. As originally proposed, charter and district schools would equally divide up $60 million in what is classified as “additional assistance.’’ These are funds with certain flexibility on how they can be used. But Democrats said that was a non-starter, pointing out that would give far more cash on a per-student basis to charter schools which have only about a quarter of the students as traditional public schools. Now the formula is on a per-student basis, with a plan to nearly double the additional aid by the 2024-2025 school year. The final plan offers not just more basic state aid to public schools. It also provides an immediate $50 million infusion in “opportunity’’ funds, dollars earmarked to help students who come from low-income households Universities also will do better than what had been proposed – at least two of them. The original plan provided $41 million for the three schools. But there was a big concern that the University of Arizona was getting more than its fair share, given its enrollment. So the final deal provides an additional $54 million in one-time dollars for Arizona State University and $22 million for Northern Arizona University. The deal also scraps something some Republicans wanted but Democrats did not: an expansion of the ability of individ-
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As you can see in Figure 2, as the blood vessels that surround the nerves become diseased they shrivel up which causes the nerves to not get the nutrients to continue to survive. When these nerves begin to “die” they cause you to have balance problems, pain, numbness, tingling, burning, and many additional symptoms. The main problem is that your doctor has told you to just live with the problem or try the drugs which you don’t like taking because they make you feel uncomfortable. There is now a facility right here in Mesa that offers you hope without taking those endless drugs with serious side effects. (See the special neuropathy severity examination at the end of this article) In order to effectively treat your neuropathy three factors must be determined. 1) What is the underlying cause? 2) How much nerve damage has been sustained. NOTE: Once you have sustained 95% nerve loss, there is likely nothing that we can do for you. 3) How much treatment will your condition require? The treatment that is provided at Aspen Medical has three main goals. 1) Increase blood flow 2) Stimulate and increase small fiber nerves 3) Decrease brain-based pain The treatment to increase blood flow, stimulate small nerve fibers and get you back to health is our new $50,000.00 SANEXAS UNIT! In addition, we use a state-of-the-art diagnostics like the TM Flow diagnostic unit to accurately determine the increase in blood flow and a small skin biopsy to accurately determine the increase in small nerve fibers! The Sanexas electric cell signaling system delivers energy to the affected area of your body at varying wavelengths, including both low-frequency and middle-frequency signals. It also uses amplitude modulated (AM) and frequency modulated (FM) signaling. During a treatment session, the Sanexas system automatically changes to simultaneously deliver AM and FM electric cell signal energy. THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT SANEXAS IS COVERED BY MEDICARE AND MOST INSURANCE! Depending on your coverage, your treatment could be little to no cost to you! The amount of treatment needed to allow the nerves to fully recover varies from person to person and can only be determined after a detailed neurological and vascular evaluation. As long as you have not sustained at least 95% nerve damage there is hope! Aspen Medical will do a chronic pain and neuropathy severity examination to determine the extent of the nerve damage as a public service to you and/or your family and friends. This neuropathy/ pain severity examination will consist of a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and a detailed analysis of the findings of your neuropathy.
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uals to get dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to help students attend private and parochial schools.
Those credits reduce the amount of funding available for all other state programs, including public education. In the 2020-2021 budget year, the most recent figures available, individuals and corporations took $250 million in credits.
But it would still allow people to take those credits, though existing limits would remain.
Republican foes of the budget did not give up without a fight.
Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, sought to cut the state’s 5.6-cent income tax rate by a penny.
“This is important because we have no meaningful tax cuts in the budget,’’ she said. And Ugenti-Rita said the public, struggling with inflation and higher gasoline prices, needs relief.
Fann said the state can’t afford a permanent tax cut of that size, with the plan instead including a $300 million in property tax cuts. She said while Arizona has a $5.3 billion surplus, only $1.3 billion of that is sustainable, meaning revenues that can be counted on year after year. And she said what the Scottsdale senator wanted would cost $1.5 billion annually.
Ugenti-Rita rejected that contention. “It’s not accurate to say we can’t afford it,’’ she said.
“It’s just that we spent it all,’’ Ugenti-Rita continued. “We put our priorities in pork instead of a tax cut.’’
She had no better luck with a proposal for a one-time rebate of $250 for individuals and $500 for couples, saying that could be done out of the one-time surplus.
Fann said those dollars are being used for one-time priorities, like setting aside $1 billion over three years to find new sources of water and paying off about $1 billion in debt in the state pension fund, a move Fann said would save the state about $100 million a year in interest payments. The opposition in the House by Republicans opposed to the plan was more muted, to the point where Rep. Jake Hoffman,
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 26, 2022 R-Queen Creek, didn’t even try to offer an amendment to cut some one-time funding from the state’s three universities. And Rep. Jacqueline Parker, R-Mesa, withdrew her amendment to slash proposed pay raises for state employees.
“It like protects voters, cuts spending in government, and no one seems really interested in doing that right now,’’ she said.
What the package also did is create the first truly bipartisan budget since the Republican-controlled legislature was forced to negotiate with Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. And that hasn’t happened since 2008.
Among the things the Democrats could not get removed is $335 million for a border fence. That’s above and beyond another $209 million for general border security which covers everything from aid to local sheriffs to $15 million to transport those who entered Arizona from other countries seeking asylum to other states. And one piece of the final package, set for a vote later Thursday, includes creation of a system to provide state funds to parents who can use these vouchers to send their children to private and parochial schools. Those vouchers essentially redirect the state aid for that student that would have gone to the public school. Separately, lawmakers adopted other Republican priorities, ranging from tax credits for companies that build facilities for making movies and TV shows to capping how much the state can keep in taxes from the expanded gaming approved last year. They also approved a measure to require a 60% approval rate for future ballot measures if they involve new taxes. By way of comparison, Proposition 208 which sought to impose an income tax surcharge on the most wealthy to increase state aid to schools, passed with a margin of less than 52%.
As a constitutional amendment, however, it is itself subject to voter approval in November. But they rejected a proposal by Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, to allow students to get high school credits for everything from outside jobs to participating in organized sports.
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Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@ timespublications.com
suddenly found themselves living next to “party houses.” The current lack of restrictions has led to alcohol-infused revelers coming in for a weekend, partying late into the night, disturbing families and misusing community amenities in a development that was never designed for shortterm renters.
The Las Sendas HOA, which publicly endorsed the amendment, required that 75% of all homeowners vote “Yes” for passage. According to a letter to residents from Las Sendas Community Association board President Tony Reid, the amendment forbids owners from advertising homes for lease as vacation rentals or using them as timeshares or fractional interest properties. There is a 180-day grace period through Dec. 17 before the amendment will be enforced to give homeowners enough time to determine the best course of action for their homes. The amendment has been certified as approved by the Maricopa County recorder. A total 3,090 votes were cast with 2,604 in favor of the proposed amendment and 486 votes against it. Brett and Erica Russo, who live next to a 4,200-square-foot rental house advertised as able to “sleep 20” were thrilled with the vote. “We were delighted,” Brett Russo said. “We know there are going to be challenges, but we hope that the short-term rental people convert their houses either for sale to regular buyers, or they rent them within the parameters of the ruling.” HOA board member Linda Barton said that while the association is not opposed to people renting out their houses, it does oppose the type of behavior that typically accompanies short-term weekend rentals. That behavior has become so troublesome in Scottsdale, where there are more than 5,000 short-term rentals, that it is forming a special police unit to address neighborhood complaints. Las Sendas homeowners voted overwhelmingly for a measure aimed at weekend home rentals where the tenants disturb neighborhoods’ tranquility. (YouTube)
“People coming here for a long weekend to party, and to create disturbances in our neighborhoods,” Barton said. “That is what we are trying to eliminate in our community because we see ourselves as a residential community.” “We don’t think the hotel type usage is appropriate.” Barton said the issues that typically accompany short-term renters are absent when people sign a two- or threemonth lease and stay for a season. Russo has a laundry list of disturbances that he says he and his family face every weekend, from bachelor, bridal and adult birthday parties, to graduations and even a 16 player youth baseball team staying for the weekend. People who opposed the amendment said the vote violates their property rights and that the HOA board is collecting homeowner dues and then telling people what they can and can’t do with their houses. Colin and Shannon Preston, who own a house in Las Sendas but live primarily in Oregon and rent out their house through Arizona Vacation Home Rentals, said that while she empathizes with
We were delighted, we know people who are there are going to be challenges, living next store but we hope that the short-term rental people convert their houses to “party houses,” that is not why they bought their either for sale to regular buyers, Las Sendas resior they rent them within the dence. parameters of the ruling. - Brett russo “Our intention was to be down there as much as we possibly could,” Shannon Preston said. But they curtailed their visits when the pandemic hit. “In my experience, the people that are staying in these higher-end houses, they are paying a lot of money to stay there,” Shannon Preston said. “They are not there to party. They are there to have a relaxing time. In our particular case, we have signs posted all over our house that say be mindful of the neighbors and realize that they are not on vacation like you are,” Preston said. She and other opponents favored stiffer fines or other penalties for renters who violate noise and other neighborhood ordinances, rather than an all-out ban on short term leases. While Barton says the board is not against people renting out their homes, they are opposed to the short term setup as it currently stands, she says, due to the type of people who show up for a weekend, versus two or three months. “We think that if we eliminate those shorter term rentals people who come here for a month, or two months or three months will come to our community and act like residents of the community and respect the amenities and their neighbors,” Barton said. At an elevation of 1,700 feet, Las Sendas backs up to the Tonto National Forest and has long been sought by homeowners for its elevation, slightly cooler temperatures, sweeping views of the Phoenix metro area and wildlife. It has also become an increasingly popular tourist destination during the shortterm rental uptick.
