Gilbert’s new "community preservation ordinance” has some residents expressing concerns about their neighbors peeking into their yards from second-story homes.
While town officials said they do not intend to use the ordinance as a stick to get residents to clean up their yards, preferring conversations and the use of discretion, the concern was strong enough that Gilbert Town Council asked for reviews every three months for the first year.
That stipulation from Councilmember Kathy Tilque was added when council passed the ordinance on a 5-1 vote June 18 with Councilmember Jim Torgeson dissenting.
Torgeson expressed reservations about the town relying on judgment calls in enforcement and suggested using a sunset clause on the ordinance when it can be fully reviewed for potential abuse and its effect on property rights.
However, Torgeson acknowledged that some situations, as shown in pictures town staff showed during its presentation, create fire hazards that need to be addressed.
Resident Chris Lyndall was one who was concerned about the ordinance and whether it violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches. Lyndall said he has neighbors who have two-story homes and a project car that he and his son work on together in the back yard that could be considered inoperable.
But Town Attorney Chris Payne said the town complies with the Fourth Amendment and while neighbors may file a complaint, the town will not conduct an inspection of the interior of a home or a back yard without consent from the homeowner or a warrant.
Furthermore, Code Compliance Administrator Lorrie DeOrio said that when residents give consent to inspection, the town’s code inspectors had a lot of discretion when it came to dealing with a violation.
For inoperable vehicles, inspectors would work with the resident to establish a reasonable timeframe for resolution, she said, including offering extensions.
Vice Mayor Scott Anderson called Gilbert a “maturing” community for which such an ordinance is appropriate, giving the town tools it needs to address violations and allowing inspectors to assist property owners rather than confront them.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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