Efforts to acquire the right-of-way dedications necessary to pave Surprise’s portion of Dale Lane have proved almost as difficult to navigate as the water-battered road itself.
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Efforts to acquire the right-of-way dedications necessary to pave Surprise’s portion of Dale Lane have proved almost as difficult to navigate as the water-battered road itself.
In 2001 the city put down a two-lane asphalt road into this development at its northern border. Apparently, it should not have.
Some private owners of the right of way on Dale Lane served the city with a cease and desist order on road maintenance in 2006. In the last decade-plus Surprise has not maintained the road, which is the only point of entry off 163rd Avenue for a residential area with hundreds of custom-built properties.
In all, the city needs to acquire 44 right of ways to fully ‘own’ the road between 163rd and 179th avenues and be able to maintain it once again. Community Development Director Chris Boyd stated in an email that Surprise has 23 of those dedications, with two additional dedications on the agenda for the Aug. 18 City Council meeting.
There has not been much city-level discussion on Dale Lane in recent years.
“Other than approving dedication of individual segments of right-of-way, the council has not had any further discussion since October 2018 regarding Dale Lane,” Mr. Boyd stated.
In that 2018 meeting city officials reiterated that Surprise can begin work on a contiguous section of the road once they own it. In this case, though, city officials have been adamant that work cannot start until it can acquire a lacking right-of-way dedication or two at the entrance to Dale Lane just west of 163rd Avenue.
Randy Lilburn lives on Maricopa County land just steps west of the boundary with Surprise. Mr. Lilburn said he is not sure why the city does not come by and chip seal the portions of the roadway where it owns the right of way, but city officials reiterated they are waiting for that link at 163rd.
“The city is interested in improving access to city roads for these residents and looks forward to doing that once contiguous right-of-way has been dedicated to the city,” stated Mike Gent, Deputy City Manager and Public Works Director, in an email.
Life on Dale Lane
Mr. Lilburn said Surprise has largely been hands off the road since he and his wife, Toni, moved there from Washington in 2011.
“There’s been a couple new homes that were built further down the road. In the portion where the city had right of way, they did cut across the road but they did not patch it,” he said.
Discussions between residents and Surprise intensified in early 2017 after an emergency vehicle picked up a local resident for treatment but got stuck on a flooded section of Dale Lane.
The city acquired 10 right-of-way dedications from 2015-2018 but only one since. Long-term residents of the area are more apt to try do-it-yourself road work due to the inaction.
Perhaps no one has put more time in on that front than Walt Maestas, who moved into a property just off Dale Lane and 177th Avenue in 1998. Mr. Maestas runs Arizona Raimakers, a landscape and irrigation business, out of a large shop right next to his home.
“I’ve been taking care of that road a while to fill potholes, from the wash to the house,” Mr. Maestas said.
The wash he describes, that runs through Dale at about 175th Avenue, may be the most problematic aspect of a problem-filled street.
Flooded transmissions have cost Mr. Maestas two company trucks, he said. And from his observations over 22 years, he is far from alone.
“It’s been insane how many people have lost their vehicles and lost work days because of that wash,” Mr Maestas said.
Mr. Lilburn said residents brought their complaints to the city numerous times but are fatigued and feel like they are talking to a wall.
“We’ve been through at least 20 meetings with them and nothing much has happened,” Mr Maestas said.
People living in the area have started to take things into their own hands, putting in grindings and patching things with their tractors, Mr. Lilburn said. And Mr. Maestas is exhibit A.
The landscaper has a John Deere tractor and some institutional knowledge from his trade. He also said he receives help in the cooler months from a pair of cowboys who are snowbirds — they’ll patch in ground up asphalt.
In the last month or so, Mr. Maestas said he has moved out between 50 and 80 tons of dirt from the wash and cleared out a bunch of branches. By his estimation, the wash area around 175th is the cleanest he has seen it.
Lilburn and his wife, Toni live a bit further down buying one of eight custom homes in the area of 179th Avenue. When they arrived in 2011 water and wind had not yet taken their toll on Dale Lane and there were no flood warning signs, giving off the impression that the road was being maintained.
“We would have never bought this home if we knew Dale Lane was not fully a city road,” Lilburn said. “There were street signs and speed signs and the road was paved.”
He said he and his wife invested quite a bit in the Dale Lane home and are not in the position to sell. Several of the other nearby homes, he said, are similarly pricey custom builds.
The stretch of 163rd north of Jomax and south of Dixileta Drive once had similar issues on a smaller scale, but recent improvements have made 163rd fairly pleasant, Mr. Lilburn said.
Unconventional Solutions
Neighbors began to organize more after the emergency vehicle got stuck. A Facebook group page shows photos and video of Dale Lane at its worst.
They help each other out, and not just with DIY repairs.
“A lot of people don’t have the vehicle to get in and out. We have two four-wheel-drive vehicles so we sometimes give people rides,” Lilburn said.
Mr. Maestas, meanwhile, continues to try to improve the area around the wash. He has identified his next project.
“I want to dig it up, throw in some river rock and get a huge pipe and run it so it’s lower. That way the water will build up where we have the river rock, which can handle it,” Mr. Maestas said.
Help from outside sources could be on the way, though the process of obtaining right-of-way declarations remains a grind.
Residents mentioned the option of the city declaring eminent do main with right-of-way owners who are unwilling to sell or simply do not respond. But there is a reason eminent domain is a last resort.
“Since eminent domain is the exceptional power of the government to take private property, and private property rights are generally held to be sacrosanct, the use of eminent domain should be used very judiciously,” stated City Attorney Robert Wingo in an email interview.
Plans are underway to extend Dynamite Boulevard to the north at 179th Avenue and paving it. More than 120 homes are expected to come in the area.
Further down the road time-wise, a development named Tierra Rico is planned. Dale Lane is the southern boundary for Tierra Rico, which is to be built between 171st and about 177th Avenues. The Peak View Road alignment is Tierra Rico’s northern boundary.
In the Planned Area Development for Tierra Rico, originally approved in 2005, Dale Lane is mentioned as a southern access point from 163rd, 171st and 177th avenues, while Peak View Road is mentioned as the northern access point.
“The Tierra Rico development continues to move forward. They have pre-plat and zoning approval. Their final plat will likely be on the Sept. 15, 2020 council agenda for their consideration,” Mr Boyd stated.
Richard Smith Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps @rsmithYWV
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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