Ruthko: Not in favor of opening Mountain View Road

Why is there finally a county hearing on this matter on June 3 for the public to speak and yet has planned the construction for a week later? Who moves into a house before closing? What’s the rush? Can it be the Aug. 4 primary election and that the road might have an unstated opening purpose of general traffic to get local off road vehicle votes in addition to emergencies?”

Crystal Ruthko, a resident of unincorporated Pinal County

On April 8, Pinal County Supervisors voted 5-0 in favor of accepting two right-of-way easements from the Arizona State Land Department. Both are inside the city limits of Apache Junction on its eastern boundary. One of these was for Jacob Waltz Street from Nodak Road to Mountain View Road, and one for Mountain View Road between Singletree and Tepee Street.

Pinal County District 5 Supervisor Todd House --- who is spearheading this opening --- has stated that the intent of these purchases is to enhance these two existing dirt roads (currently closed by the Arizona State Land Department), and they will remain dirt roads, to allow for a secondary entrance for emergency vehicles, or evacuation exit from the neighborhood in the event of fire.

The right-of ways were purchased for over $200,000 combined, and the project will ultimately cost over $1,000,000 according to Supervisor House.

The right-of-ways were paid for a week earlier and no advance official notification was given to the public, except to select supporters, via back channel and unofficial channels. Certainly no notice or information was given to nearby residents who would most be affected by dust --- the roads will remain dirt, ORV traffic, trash, fence cutting, shooting, illegal camping and ironically, fires being started.

Indeed, when asked several times if this emergency road would be open to the public, the supervisor has never directly answered --- sticking to the emergency argument. The locals affected by this were hampered at every turn from expressing their opinion on this.

As fate and bad luck would have it, on the day that a meeting was finally scheduled between those affected and the supervisor on May 7 to address the issues of emergency only fire exits, the Lost Dutchman Fire closed Highway 88 and the meeting was cancelled. In a subsequent attempt at rescheduling, the locals were informed that seven county employees needed to be present and only three locals could be present (COVID-19 concerns). Hence the affected neighbors declined.

The roads were open in the past and these issues existed and were never addressed. There is no reason to believe enforcement would happen now.

An intergovernmental agreement is required between Pinal County and the City of Apache Junction to agree on the caretaking of the matters mentioned above. There are many other requirements --- imposed by the Arizona State Land Department --- on these trust land purchases which have yet to be addressed by Pinal County, and would be addressed in an intergovernmental agreement with the city.

Yet, Supervisor House and Pinal County has scheduled and planned the week of June 8 to initiate the project --- claiming no further approvals are needed. Initial construction steps were started as early as the middle of April with surveying and marking.

There is currently no intergovernmental agreement with the city and final approval of the sale by the Arizona State Land Department has not been issued. (The land department is currently researching questions about Pinal County’s project at the request of local citizens affected). The county and Mr. House are proceeding on regardless.

Why is there finally a county hearing on this matter on June 3 for the public to speak and yet has planned the construction for a week later? Who moves into a house before closing? What’s the rush? Can it be the Aug. 4 primary election and that the road might have an unstated opening purpose of general traffic to get local off-road vehicle votes in addition to emergencies?

The local neighbors most negatively affected are actually in favor of Supervisor House’s stated reason of opening Mountain View and Jacob Waltz as a secondary emergency exit --- but are in favor of confining it to emergency vehicles or evacuations only with an automatic gate to ensure such. The local fire chief may support such an option if presented and there are precedents for this elsewhere. In this way, everyone wins --- the emergency exit proponents, the local nearby residents, open space proponents, horse riders and hikers using the area … and of course nature wins too.

Supervisor House promotes this project of opening Mountain View and Jacob Waltz as being a faster entrance to the neighborhood for emergency vehicles, thereby saving a greater number of lives and more property. Does it not then follow that even more lives and property can be saved with an even faster route?

Though stated that there is no other route available, there is a faster route available into the neighborhood if emergency response is truly being considered. This route is anywhere from two to five minutes faster than Mountain View and Jacob Waltz --- depending on where in the neighborhood the emergency is --- and would save even more lives and property. It would save significant taxpayer dollars and be a more efficient use of those dollars.

The route would transit Hidalgo Street and North Arroyo Seco and it would require using an existing Pinal County right of way and a purchase of about 2 acres of State Trust land --- as opposed to 13 or so acres currently being purchased. It would cost a tiny fraction of the current project about to happen, and save even more lives. Why would that not be done? Think of the extra lives and property that would be saved by opening that route and abandoning the more expensive (and slower) taxpayer-funded route.

Alas there appears to be a conflict to this suggestion as those with a political stake in opening MountainView/Jacob Waltz have homes along that better, faster route. Were that route to be opened, it could also be opened to emergency vehicles only with an automatic gate. Again, everyone wins --- the locals along the route, people needing to evacuate, people with heart attacks and people with fires in their living rooms.

Finally, a video recently posted by Supervisor House capitalizing on the recent Lost Dutchman Fire claimed that hundreds of scared citizens fled into the neighborhood and found nowhere to escape, that the permanent barricades to the trust land were torn down at Jacob Waltz by terrified citizens trying to escape, that there is no alternate route available and "implied" that the City Of Apache Junction was at fault for closing it in the first place. And by association faulting the mayor of Apache Junction, his competitor for supervisor in the upcoming election.

The video was well done, complete with "The Excorcist" style of "doom" music in the background and capped off with the logo of Pinal County. Did our tax dollars pay for that video? While the video was presented as opening the road and responding to the residents' fears, it is apparent that the video is intended to actually stoke those fears.

There were no more than a dozen vehicles seeking a way out at the Jacob Waltz barricade, not hundreds.

The gate was torn down by a local resident with an agenda about opening the road, seizing on an opportunity to make a point; and then drove home, not even using the exit. The resident did not flee. There were no ‘panicked residents tearing down the gate.

There is in fact another way out as mentioned above.

The city did not close the area by free choice. Arizona State Land Department required payment for the use of the area … or leave.

Editor's note: Crystal Ruthko is a resident of unincorporated Pinal County.