County to keep roads and lights on

Santa Cruz County won’t abandon its back roads in Rio Rico and it won’t pull the switch on rural streetlights �“ for now. County supervisors listened to dozens of residents speak at meetings in Rio Rico on Tuesday and the board meeting room on Wednesday and voted 3-0 to pass two motions.

First, the county will post “not county-maintained” signs on the Rio Rico roads that Public Works Director Scott Altherr had asked to abandon (become private roads) because the county cannot afford to grade them.

“This gives us the opportunity to work together over the next 12 months (with property owners) for some type of solution,” said Supervisor Manuel Ruiz.

On the streetlights issue, the supervisors decided to use Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) monies only for lights essential for traffic safety, as Altherr had requested. It will pay for the others out of the general fund. It will undertake a safety study to classify the lights recommended by the county attorney’s office, write a clear policy on streetlights, and create a citizens advisory council.

“I don’t want to be known as the supervisor who turned the lights out in the county,” said Supervisor Rudy Molera.

Altherr first brought the road maintenance dilemma to the supervisors’ attention in a study session in August. The county can’t afford to maintain all its roads because its HURF funds from the state dropped $1.4 million over the past two years, Altherr told the supervisors. But the county remains liable for any injuries on those roads.

He repeated his argument to residents opposed to the plan at the meetings this week, where he also explained why the county cannot legally use state funds to power most of its streetlights.

“This is first and foremost to avoid misuse of HURF funds,” Altherr said at the supervisors’ meeting.

When he suggested the county darken about 875 of its 1,164 streetlights, the issue hit people where they live.

“I know many of you are very passionate about these issues,” Altherr said as he faced an overflow crowd of at least 115 people at the Rio Rico Community Center on Tuesday. They listened to Altherr’s presentation and spoke their minds about both the roads and lights.

“If you start abandoning roads, you create a blighted community,” said David Chichester of Rio Rico.

“Is Rio Rico being targeted here?” asked Realtor Lois Cooper.

“Rio Rico is unique because it has roads that have never been maintained,” Altherr answered. He estimated it would cost $1.3 million per mile to bring the 26 miles of roads in Ranchettes 9, 17 and 18 up to county standards.

“Why can’t the roads be classified as primitive?” asked a resident.

Only roads the county accepted before 1975 would qualify, Altherr said, citing a state statute.

“I think every street in Rio Rico is a primitive road,” said Gene Kelly of Rio Rico.

“You haven’t spent any money maintaining these roads,” said Kathi Campana of Rio Rico. “Why spend thousands to abandon them?”

When residents talked about the safety of school children and residents on dark streets if the lights are turned off, Altherr said. “The criteria we used was traffic safety, not public safety.”

Other speakers agreed with Altherr that the county should not pay for lights that only illuminate someone’s home.

Supervisor John Maynard asked, “Is this an important enough issue for us to find funding for those lights that are not for traffic safety? The answer seems to be ‘yes.’”

On Wednesday, almost 80 people filled the supervisors’ meeting room and the debate began again.

“If roads are abandoned, no builder with a brain will build on these lots,” Carl Smith of Rio Rico told the supervisors. The county would lose thousands of dollars in property tax revenue.

Abandonment would “affect our area drastically,” said Diana Corrales, president of the Santa Cruz County Board of Realtors. She suggested the supervisors look at other options “to help our predicament.”

Why put the standards for roads so high? asked two speakers.

Jim Ross said abandonment would render the land worthless. “Many lawsuits will follow,” he predicted.

“People are going to have their retirement dreams shattered,” said Realtor Kathi Campana. “They have no access, can’t get a loan and it no longer has any value to sell.”

Bill Cox worked for Avatar about 20 years ago when the company brought roads in Rio Rico up to standard and handed them over to the county, he said. In 1991, the county made a decision not to maintain those roads without homes on them.

“I think we’ve come to a time in Rio Rico when we need to take control �“ create an improvement district and relieve the county,” Cox said.

Tom Augherton of the Arizona Association of Realtors warned that Santa Cruz County could become a test case for other counties that considered abandonment.

Ruiz toured the roads in question and some of them are in “terrible condition,” he said. He appealed to those who came to the meetings to help the county find “a common solution.”

In hard budget times, “we can’t do it alone,” Ruiz said.