From this page, you will be able to connect to a number of the various web sites I use to keep track of what's happening in the West Valley. These are primarily the web site for the Maricopa County Assessor's Office and the web site for the Flood Control District of Maricopa County. For a set of basic instructions on how to navigate around on these sites, click here.

Maricopa County Assessor's Office click here.

Flood Control District of Maricopa County here

.

Not too long ago, the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) completed their studies of roadways. This group is the "think tank" from all of the various planners in the cities, towns, counties and State offices, all getting together to try to lay out an intelligent system for moving our future residents. Hopefully, they will cover all the bases. These summaries and maps show the current thoughts for roadways, interchanges and bridges. There are additional maps for bus routes, commuter rail etc., but for the sake of space, I didn't put them all in here. No sense to further confuse an already complicated process.

Here are the Executive Summary Posters from the presentation and the final recommendation for the roadway system in the West Valley. In addition, there are a few of the maps that give you an idea of how the various transportation entities (ADoT - Arizona Department of Transportation, MCDoT - Maricopa County Department of Transportation) and the various cities and towns in the area are planning for future growth.

Executive Summary Poster - Back - Hassayampa Framework Study, click here.

Executive Summary Poster - Front - Hassayampa Framework Study, click here.

Hassayampa Roadway Study Recommendation, click here.

(These are Adobe Acrobat files, and you'll need Acrobat Reader to view these files. If you don't have the reader, go to www.adobe.com and you can download a free copy.)

If you want me to I can e-mail you all of the source information that is the basis for these maps and posters. It is in the format of an executive summary with plenty of maps and charts and tables leading up to the actual maps that are presented here. It is a rather large file in a .pdf format, but I can get it to you if you really need to see it.

I have also included links to the web sites for various towns in the area, including

Wickenburg,

Surprise,

and Buckeye

so you can get a feel for what their future direction will be for their towns. You probably won't find any information that directly relates to Whispering Ranch, but you will get a feel for what they are planning for their towns and cities.

Concerned about water in Arizona?? We have one of the best water planning and conservation programs in the world. After all, we know we are in a desert, and our founding fathers had the foresight to set in place a series of guidelines so there would be appropriate water resources for our future. We have enough for agriculture, manufacturing and about twice the number of residents that are currently living in this state. You can check on where private water wells are located, when they were drilled, what the water depth is, and a lot more information at this web site as well. It's a great resource.To go to the web site for the Arizona Department of Water Resources, click here.

Mark Twain made a statement that was prophetic - "Whiskey is for drinking - Water is for fighting." If you look at any area for future growth potential, the primary item needed is water.

And what other state would have the foresight to run a canal all the way from the Colorado River (our border with California) across the State to the north side of Phoenix then curving south and running all the way to Tucson. This canal is how we get the water from where it is to where we need it. To go to the web site for the Central Arizona Project (CAP) click here. This is a valuable resource to look at and understand. It is how we can replenish the water we pump out of the ground and still have what we need when we need it and where we need it.

When Whispering Ranch was subdivided and being sold to the public, there were a few problems. Actually, it turned out to be a huge land scam not only here in Arizona, but in New Mexico and Texas as well. The company (Horizon Development) was selling the same parcel to different individuals in different areas. How would the lady in Maryland know that her parcel was also sold to a businessman in Florida and also to a family in Oregon ? ? Well, that's what happened. The parcels were sold multiple times. But that was not the only issue. Purchasers who bought parcels were not advised that there were no paved roads, no electrical service, no public water supply, no sewer service, no streetlights or sidewalks, nor any plans for any of these items on the horizon (no pun intended). The State of Arizona realized there was a need to put some controls on development since it would have a significant impact on items such as responsibility for water availability, emergency services (Police and Fire protection, Ambulance service), groundwater pollution (septic tanks) and other items which would impact the use of land as our population and land use increased. To clean up this mess, legislation was passed that outline what is required to be disclosed to a prospective purchaser of property about all of these infrastructure items. It put the responsibility for a Subdivision Public Report on the shoulders of any owner of six or more parcels within a subdivision. This process is expensive and time consuming and there are quite a few owners who innocently and unknowingly fell under this regulation. These owners are now restricted from selling their individual parcels until they produce this report on their property. There are some exclusions - selling properties in bulk as six or more parcels from one Seller to one Buyer in one escrow - but in most cases, you are stuck until you complete all the information required by the State of Arizona, submit the application to the Arizona Department of Real Estate for approval, produce the report and get signatures by any prosepctive Buyers prior to their entering into an agreement to purchase the property.

If you, as a Seller, should be found to be in violation of this Statute, you can be fined by the State for the violation. The parcel will be put under a "freeze", meaning that you can not get a permit to drill a well, or any kind of a building permit until all of the requirements under this Statute are met. Additionally, the Purchaser of the property will have the right if they so choose to rescind the transaction, getting all their money back and returning the Title to the property back to you. This can be a real kick in the teeth. And any licensed agent involved in the transaction could lose their license. That's even more of a kick . . . and in a more tender spot.

I have met with the staff in the Investigations and the Subdivision offices of the Arizona Department of Real Estate on a couple of occasions to get a better handle on the specific regulations. Still, I am confused in some areas. Attorneys, Legislators, Government officials, Developers, Land Planning professionals and Educators I have met with all have widely divergent views of the requirements under this State Statute. The best advice I can give you at this point is to read the brochure on the issue. If you own, or have owned in the past, six or more parcels within a subdivision (plat), be VERY careful when you go to sell. If you are concerned about this as an issue involving a property you have bought or sold, please feel free to get in touch with me and I'll look into the specifics. I'm not an attorney, so I don't have a legal opinion, but I do have a Real Estate License in Arizona that I feel is important to protect. It might also be a prudent idea to call the Department of Real Estate to get thier opinion before you made a move that might get you in hot water.

Oh, and if you are interested in other information on the State of Arizona, you might want to look here. This web site can get you information and links to the other Towns and Cities, Counties and the various departments in these municipalities.

And thanks for checking in . . . .

To send me an E-Mail, click here.