The Cost Of Rapid Development

No more streetlights for an Arizona neighborhood:

Streetlights that illuminate more than 200 homes in a Surprise neighborhood could be shut off by Monday.

...The solution sounds easy enough. Get enough homeowners to sign a petition for payment, and the lights will stay on.

What city officials didn't expect were barriers that included foreclosures, vacancies and residents' apathy. Some, even after being told about the issue, refuse to agree to a streetlight district that would cost each household about $45 annually.

City staff, volunteers and a councilman have worked for more than a year to gather signatures. They're 11 short of the 150 or so they need. If they're not successful by Monday, it's lights off for those homes and half of a neighborhood park.

And they're not alone. This summer, nearly 1,000 homes also could be in the dark if streetlight districts aren't formed. The city has been paying for a portion or all of the streetlight power but will no longer do so after June 30. Surprise is in such a quandary because city staff and developers failed to form streetlight improvement districts for Sierra Montana and other areas.

..."It slipped through the cracks," said City Engineer Nick Mascia, who was brought in to help solve the problem. "The city didn't catch it, and the developer didn't catch it."

In Sierra Montana's case, the streetlights were paid by the developer until last year. Now, Arizona Public Service's yearlong grace period for residents is over.