Cactus Village Community

WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

Jul 10, 2003

We have recently heard both sides of the story. Neighbors concerned about cranes, tow trucks, dump trucks, trailers with backhoes, semi-tractor/trailer rigs parked in the neighborhood. Reasons for the concerns ranged from unsightly (making the neighborhood look like a commercial district) to blocking view and therefore unsafe for playing children. The other side claims that it is property rights to use their property as they see fit and merely nosy neighbors trying to create problems.

Research into the issue reveals that it is a zoning violation to park a vehicle over one ton in a residential area, and, most importantly, heavy commercial vehicle traffic in a residential area will damage the pavement. Residential street pavement costs are paid for by the property owners with frontage on the residential street.

The public streets we all drive on in the City of Phoenix have different classifications: residential streets, collector streets and arterial streets. Economical considerations dictate that streets are constructed to standards designed to support the anticipated traffic volume and vehicle weight. Arterial streets are therefore constructed to a more robust standard than collector streets, and collector streets are more robust than the residential streets.

There is also a commercial truck ordinance requiring commercial vehicles to use arterial streets to the nearest point of destination. The large moving van coming to deliver your furniture is required by law to travel on 43rd Avenue, 51st Avenue, Cactus or Thunderbird (arterial streets) to the nearest point to your home. All commercial vehicle cut-through traffic is illegal. . . ☺