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Council discusses inconsistent median landscaping and enforcement; staff outlines costs and new code-compliance resources
Summary
Council held a policy discussion on inconsistent median landscaping along arterials, who is responsible for installation and maintenance, and enforcement. Staff described design and construction responsibilities, maintenance costs (including tree removal costs), and recent expansion of the town’s code-compliance team to accelerate enforcement.
Councilmembers discussed inconsistent median landscaping across Queen Creek arterials and options for clearer policy on installation and maintenance, including whether the town should assume responsibility for maintenance in some areas. Development Services staff outlined how medians are planned, constructed and typically turned over to homeowners associations for maintenance, then described enforcement and staffing changes to improve consistency.
Councilmember Benning introduced the item and said there is “a great deal of inconsistency as to which arterials have landscape medians and which do not as well as who's responsible for maintaining those medians.” He proposed a discussion about options including town-provided maintenance, waiving median requirements, or requiring developers to install medians and have the town maintain them going forward.
Brett Burningham, Development Services director, reviewed the typical process: median landscaping is designed to town standards during rezones and site plans, installed during construction of half-street improvements, and often maintained initially by developers or builders until homeowners associations assume responsibility. Burningham highlighted complications: some older CIP roadway projects did not include conduit for irrigation or landscaping; a narrow median in front of a large commercial parcel (Costco) lacks room for typical landscaping; and some projects leave median installation to later phases. He said a large tree removal can cost up to $3,000 and that medians are vulnerable to weeds during monsoon rains and high winds.
Burningham said code enforcement receives about 20 complaints a year about median conditions and that a one-mile stretch of Queen Creek Road between Hawes Road and Sossman Road includes six different HOAs responsible for adjacent medians — a complexity for restoration and enforcement. He explained median maintenance requires traffic-control permits to work safely in medians and encouraged HOAs to plan and obtain permits in advance. Burningham also briefed council on code-enforcement capacity: Victor Martinez has returned as the new code compliance division manager, the town has hired one code enforcement officer with a second hire imminent, and the division will include three full-time positions and weekend part-time support.
Deputy Transportation Director Julian Dreesing said staff will explore ways to streamline repetitive traffic-control permitting for routine median maintenance while maintaining worker and motorist safety.
Councilmembers asked about administrative paths for modifying median plantings (planning staff can approve many small changes administratively and process encroachment/traffic-control permits). Councilmember Brown asked whether additional safeguards could be added upstream in plan review to avoid missed median installations; staff said multiple departments review projects and that the new code-compliance structure and refined internal procedures should reduce future inconsistencies.
The item was for discussion; council did not adopt a new policy at the meeting but directed staff to continue refining enforcement procedures and to explore permitting efficiencies for maintenance crews.
