By Richard Smith, Independent Newsmedia

In 2001 the city of Surprise put down a two-lane asphalt road into the Saguaro Acres development at its northern border. Apparently, it should not have.

Some private owners of the right of way on this road, Dale Lane, served the city with a cease and desist order on road maintenance in 2006. In the last decade Surprise has not maintained the road, which is the only point of entry for an HOA with about 350 custom-built properties in the desert.

Homeowners reminded the city of road conditions, often after rain, but their consternation reached a new high in March following the wettest winter they could remember. About 150 Saguaro Acres residents attended District 1 councilman Roland Winters’ meeting March 9 and four more spoke out during the call to the public at the March 21 City Council meeting.

In short, the residents want action on acquiring the necessary right of way, getting the cease and desist order lifted or even breaking down the road to gravel. Flooding has always been an issue and potholes are nearly three feet deep on the western stretch of Dale Lane, but the four major rains early this year spurred more residents to action.

“(Waiting to get rights-of-way) all well and good and it sounds legal. But what are you going to do with the safety factor, when you’ve got fire trucks and school buses (stuck) and there are medically fragile people out here,” resident Bill Schoentrup said.

He said Dale Lane was impassible following a New Year’s Day storm. A Facebook group started by residents shows a fire truck inching along the flooded road bed that day. Mr. Schoentrup and several neighbors said the fire truck got stuck on the way back.

A section of 163rd Avenue has similar issues on a smaller scale. The stretch of 163rd north of Jomax and south of Dixileta Drive is not maintained as thoroughly as the portions to the north and south.

The road enters Maricopa County north of Dixileta and the county recently finished a pavement preservation project on that stretch. South of Jomax, right of way has been established for the entries to the newer Asante and Desert Oasis development.

Surprise Public Works director Mike Gent stated in an email that there are 5 properties adjacent to the 163rd Avenue alignment that have not dedicated public Right-of-Way.

Stretches of Peakview Road north of Dale Lane are rough, too. But Dale Lane is the epicenter and the road furthest from a solution.

Mr. Gent stated there are more than 20 properties on West Dale Lane who have not dedicated public right-of-way.



“The city made roadway improvements and provided maintenance for a number of years in this area under the belief that existing private road easements provided the city this right. Unlike dedicated public right-of-way, which transfers ownership of the roadway to the city, private property owners maintain ownership of these private roads,” Mr. Gent stated. “While some property owners appreciated the city’s maintenance, others viewed this as trespassing and requested the city cease and desist the maintenance operations.”

In that maintenance vacuum, parts of Dale Lane west of about 173rd Avenue have returned to nature, while other stretches amount to loose gravel, including the intersection of 163rd Avenue and Dale.

Some residents with tractors scoop up the dirt on Dale. Others engage in do-it-yourself maintenance, which can be a 50-50 proposition, resident Dari Shawncroft said.

“The other problem we have out here is some people know how to do the road properly, at least a little bit of it. But then you have some people that think they know what they’re doing,” she said.

Dale Lane is a minefield on sunny days. Some drivers try to avoid potholes by cutting through homeowners’ property near the road.

A daily inconvenience turns into an outright hazard during storms that can produce flash flooding. Mr. Schoentrup said he has already seen a school bus stuck this year, in addition to the fire truck.

“After it rains it gets so deep that you can’t get through. Even on good days smaller cars can’t get through so they fill the bottoms with dirt so they get a chance,” resident Jim Loiseau said.

Ms. Shawncroft remembers a worse day than this Jan. 1, on Aug. 19, 2012. After a 30-minute downpour that night, she and her friend, Tammy Bayne, went to the nearby wash to find teenage girls stuck there.

She said a helicopter landed in the area and there were six pull-out rescues including a heart patient. Saguaro Acres made 22 calls to 911 in the area that night.

“163rd was flowing. This road was flowing from that wash, probably clear down to 171st,” Ms. Shawncroft said.

Mr. Schoentrup said Rural Metro Fire, which is not part of the mutual aid system, originally served the development. He and other residents led an effort to have Sun City West-based North County Fire and Medical District serve the area.

That brings the Surprise fire station a couple miles south on 163rd Avenue into play on mutual aid calls. But, as a former firefighter, Mr. Schoentrup was quick to point out that Dale Road is not safe for fire trucks or any emergency vehicle.

Marty Rankin has been in this battle longer than most. He said he has talked to Surprise since 1994 about roads in the neighborhood.

Mr. Rankin said he also has a letter from former City Manager Nick Bacon stating that if the HOA allows the city to annex it, Surprise will maintain the roads.

From the city’s perspective all prior decisions and agreements were rendered moot — at least on Dale Lane — by the cease and desist order.



Mr. Gent stated the public right-of-way that has been dedicated and accepted by the city has been dedicated voluntarily without payment and this remains the practice, respecting private property owner’s rights and preserving city funds for improvements and maintenance.

He stated when Surprise is able to obtain the necessary rights-of-way, any legal ambiguity will be removed and the city will have the right to improve and maintain the roads.

“The city is exploring funding options available for improvements once the right-of-way is obtained including those potentially available for air quality mitigation and flood control, as well as other sources,” Mr. Gent stated. “We continue to communicate with individual property owners working to obtain contiguous right-of-way. We are also currently coordinating a follow-up meeting with a representative group of Saguaro Acres community members.”

Residents are miffed that in more than a decade of probing, they do not have a great idea of how to contact the right-of-way owners.

Mr. Loiseau said his daughter contacted the city, who said they have a Realtor trying to contact the owners of the right of way.

“If they were serious about getting the right of ways they’ve had about 14 years since I’ve started talking to them about it. They used to come up here on 163rd and give it an oil bath with rock, every so often,” Mr. Rankin said.

Surprise officials said they need to have a continuous stretch of road before working on it. Dale Lane is like an ownership jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing throughout.

“A lot of people who own the right of way don’t live in the country, or they’re investors,” Ms. Bayne said.

This time seems different in Saguaro Acres. Residents are speaking out and showing up in greater numbers.

They also are taking to social media to spread their message in hopes of getting the road paved.

Neighbors began a petition at www.change.org. A Facebook group page shows photos and video of Dale Lane and 163rd Avenue at its worst, including the fire truck trying to navigate Dale.

“That will tell you the story of what happens and there is a lot of that is since Jan. 1,” Mr. Rankin said.