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Supervisors consider law to let Cochise County lien lots to fix defunct subdivision common areas
Summary
Board discussed staff drafting legislation to allow counties to abate nuisance/common-area problems in defunct subdivisions and place liens on benefited lots (apportioned shares) to recoup costs; discussion also raised HEERF restrictions on using federal relief funds for non-HEERF roads.
Supervisors discussed a staff proposal to give Cochise County a mechanism to address defunct subdivisions where developers abandoned promised infrastructure.
Staff member (S6) outlined a draft legislative fix that would permit the county to abate hazards or maintain common areas the HOA no longer handles and place liens on benefited lots to recover costs. "All the benefited lots ... they'd be responsible for, 1/30th of the cost to the abatement," S6 said, describing how a lien could be apportioned across lots when the county acts as caretaker.
Chair (S1) raised the practical problem that HEERF-related statutes currently prohibit spending HEERF revenue on non-HEERF roads, limiting the county's options to repair abandoned subdivision streets. Supervisors discussed alternative approaches: temporary county ownership until roads are built to standard, a road-maintenance agreement signed by residents before county intervention, or a lottery/priority system and minimum voter-approval threshold (S1 suggested 60%) to trigger county-funded improvements followed by resident maintenance.
Board members said they will ask staff and counsel to refine statutory language (including retroactive application to certain plats and a specific lien mechanism) and include the measure among the proposals to CSA for the Aug. 14 deadline.
