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Dynamite Mountain Ranch resident Lissette Villanueva says the builder signs that appear on her neighborhood streets over the weekends make the area look like a “flea market.”
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‘Sign, sign everywhere a sign’
by Barry Cohen

NORTH PHOENIX – Like the famous soul singer Aretha Franklin, Lissette Villanueva just wants a little R‑E‑S‑P‑E‑C‑T. Respect for her community, that is.

Villanueva is tired of waking up on the weekends and seeing the streets in her Dynamite Mountain Ranch neighborhood littered with builders’ signs pointing potential buyers to new homes, and she’s waging a one‑person campaign to free the community of these unsightly–and illegal–signs.

Villanueva has filed a complaint with the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Dept., which told her they have sent letters to the violators. She also called and e‑mailed the builders, telling them she’s ashamed to invite friends over on the weekend because her neighborhood “looks like a flea market.”

The e‑mails and calls met with less‑than‑overwhelming responses. At first, Richmond American Homes suggested Villanueva contact its corporate office. After signs appeared over the Memorial Day weekend, Villanueva contacted the company again and they agreed to desist, as did U.S. Homes.

A representative at the William Lyon Homes sales office in Talavera told Villanueva “it would be taken care of,” she said. But when the signs appeared again, he suggested Villanueva contact corporate. When she did, Karen Beacon of William Lyon told her the signs were legal.

Meanwhile, Laureen Leston, a spokesperson for Maracay Homes, said, “According to our sign company, our signs are not being placed incorrectly. However, we’re working with the local homeowners association and the residents to make sure we’re not in violation.”

Shea Homes’ Lynnae Clore, contacted by The Desert Advocate after Villanueva was told by e‑mail that her query had been forwarded to the “proper department,” said Shea has a company that handles their signs and that “sales management was calling them to get the details.” On Tuesday of this week, Shea told Villanueva that the company would comply as soon as possible, as did DR Horton.

Lennar Corp. said they forwarded Villenueva’s inquiry to her “local Customer Care representative.” As we went to press, both Lennar and Pulte Homes had not returned phone calls seeking comment.

Despite all the promises Villanueva received, each builder previously mentioned had signs up again this past weekend. After contacting the City of Phoenix, Villanueva was told that city officials would be conducting an illegal builder sign “sweep” of her neighborhood this coming weekend.

“I lived in north Scottsdale for three years, and I just want the City of Phoenix to afford us the same respect homeowners are shown there,” explained Villanueva, a Dynamite Ranch resident for the past year.

According to Malcolm Hankins, code enforcement manager for the City of Scottsdale, at one time the city permitted directional signs on the weekends for new subdivisions and condominium complexes, but that ordinance was changed in 2003 to prohibit them. He said the biggest problem in Scottsdale is real estate, home sale and garage sale signs posted in the public right‑of‑way.

Although Phoenix has a sign ordinance, enforcement is iffy. For instance, employees of the Neighborhood Services “Graffiti Busters” program are authorized to pull illegal builder signs, but they merely store them. The department has just one person who sends letters to the illegal sign posters, informing them they are in violation of city ordinance and telling them they could be fined, explained Tim Boling, deputy director of Neighborhood Services, who acknowledged that illegal builder signs aren’t at the top of the list of department concerns. “The letters we send out are more for education,” he related. “We ask the violators not to do it again.”

Boling said enforcement is the responsibility of the Phoenix Police Dept., to which Det. Tony Morales, a spokesperson for the department, responded “yes and no.” He said the police only get involved at the request of the city’s zoning department and then only in aggravated situations.

“Quite frankly, illegal builder signs aren’t a priority,” explained Morales. “They’re not something we routinely look for. We have much bigger fish to fry.”

With seemingly little help coming from builders and the city, Villanueva pledged to keep up the battle and hopes others will join the cause. “I won’t quit until these signs are gone for good,” she said.

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