City buying land around Sky Harbor

City buying land around Sky Harbor
By Jahna Berry The Arizona Republic 04.14.08

Arizona 's largest airport is on a multimillion-dollar real-estate shopping spree.

Through two programs, Phoenix is buying hundreds of properties in neighborhoods near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

On the west side of the airport, Phoenix is relocating families who are tired of sometimes-deafening aircraft noise. On the north end, the city is buying property so that the nation's eighth-busiest airport can grow in the future.

So far, the city has bought 389 of the 1,473 eligible properties. It plans to buy about 1,100 more during the next four years.

When all are acquired, the airport's land will include a vast patchwork of properties in neighborhoods from Seventh Street to 44th Street and from Washington Street to University Drive.

This fiscal year, the city has set aside more than $32 million for the relocation program, which is bankrolled by Federal Aviation Administration grant money and passenger facilities charges, which are fees tacked on to airline tickets. To date, $104 million has been spent.

From the perspective of city officials, the 5-year-old campaign is a success: Today, 533 families are in better, quieter homes. Plus, the airport has participated in community events in the relocation zone, they say.

"It's providing a good quality of life, and it's good for the neighborhood," said City Councilman Michael Johnson, who represents the area.

But the campaign also has created some perplexing problems, locals say. While the city and community are putting energy into the exodus, there are signs that people are still moving into the area. On a few blocks, new houses are going up. And one elementary school is bursting at the seams.

Meanwhile, the program has dramatically changed the fabric of the neighborhood. The relocations have created a surreal landscape of occupied houses, dirt lots and boarded-up buildings, residents say.

That has led to other problems, like illegal dumping, rodents and homeless squatters in vacant houses, an activist says.

People leave noise behind

The relocation program began buying properties in Nuestro Barrio, the south-central part of Phoenix , around 2003, a year after the City Council approved the program.

Ronnie Valenzuela, 37, remembers growing up on a tight-knit block of Latino families. Most had lived in the Valley for generations.

"We knew all of the neighbors," said Valenzuela, who moved before the relocations began. He now works at a body shop on the same block he grew up on. Today, there are no children playing outside. The city bought and tore down Valenzuela's old house.

The neighborhood group for Nuestro Barrio disbanded after all of its members were relocated.

It's understandable that the relocations would change the area, said Maria Bears, a Phoenix employee who manages the relocation program.

"The footprint of the neighborhoods is not 100 percent like it was a few years ago and mostly because of the demolitions on the land that we purchased," Bears said.

Hundreds of families who were fed up with airport noise jumped at the chance to pack up and move.

It's not easy. The long series of bureaucratic hoops to relocate can take more than a year. But the payoff is evident.

"A lot of people realize that it's a good deal," Bears said.

Most families move into houses that are newer and in better shape than the ones they left, she added.

Once the house is bought, it's boarded up and later razed. Historic buildings are boarded up and fenced off.

About 200 people in the relocation zones are on the waiting list, and the program has been expanded to include vacant lots and rental properties, Bears said.

Nieves Morquecho, 93, isn't sure if he will go.

"Not yet," said Morquecho, who has lived in his house since 1936. "Maybe in a few years."

Arrivals bring problems

The airport has no firm plans to develop the land that the city is buying. Even if the airport had future plans, such as building a fourth runway, airport projects can take a decade to clear federal and local hurdles.

That uncertainty has led to confusion in the neighborhood, local leaders say. While millions are being spent to get people out of the neighborhood, new people - renters, recent immigrants and other families - are moving in. Newly built homes and apartments even dot a few blocks.

City leaders say that they can't stop people from building in the area. Some of the recent homes were built by developers who are trying to take advantage of residents who are unaware of the relocation push, said Councilman Johnson.

"My concern is that someone pays so much for a house and finds out it's not worth what they thought its value was," he said.

Under city rules, any new homes in the area must have soundproofing on the roof, windows and doors. The people who bought in the area after 1998 are not eligible for relocation benefits. Property owners are also required to inform buyers that the land is in a relocation zone, he said.

New homes aren't the only sign the neighborhood is hanging on. At least one area school is looking for more space.

The Phoenix Elementary School District board closed Ann Ott School in 2005 after 150 families left the area a few years after the relocation program began. The remaining Ott students transferred to nearby Silvestre S. Herrera School , and the board expected enrollment to sink there, too, said Kenneth Baca, a district assistant superintendent.

Instead, Herrera is crowded. The 550-student school jumped to 766 after Ott closed. Last year, it had 775 students, and early figures show it has about 765 kids this year.

Herrera uses space at Wesley Community Center for its arts and physical-education classes. The school is operating at 97 percent of its capacity, Baca said.

Meanwhile, the community center, which feared it would lose its youth programs, has a full summer program with 110 children, said the center's executive director, Betty Mathis.

Airport officials say Herrera isn't full because of a population surge; it's because the school has an acclaimed arts program that attracts families from outside the neighborhood. The district says that only 25 percent of Herrera's children come from open enrollment, families who live outside of the neighborhood.

In contrast to the signs of stability are the rising number of empty lots and vacant buildings that can cause other issues, Mathis said.

It can take up to a year for a home to be demolished after the city buys it, so the homeless often take shelter in them, she said. Empty lots are trash-strewn, and rodent problems are on the rise for the neighbors left behind.

The city started a program called Connect and set up a hotline for neighbors in the relocation zone to help with problems such as illegal dumping on city property, Bears said.

"We're changing the neighborhood, and we want to make sure that we are as responsive as possible," Bears said.

Future remains uncertain

It's anyone's guess as to what the future holds.

The city plans to own most of the residential properties in the relocation areas within four years, but that depends on the budget, city officials say.

The city gets roughly one call a week from those interested in the city-acquired land. The city tells them that they have no plans to sell.

Meanwhile, observers watch the neighborhood evolve.

"The neighborhood could stabilize," said school-board member Ruth Ann Marston. "It's close to downtown. It's desirable in terms of job opportunities nearby, opportunities at the airport itself and because of the airport-related businesses.

"So we are just waiting to see what happens."

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