Lehi Updates

The Advisory Board is aware of an accident Wednesday afternoon involving a car and a horse rider that resulted in the euthanization of the horse.  Information is still being gathered and the Board is working with the city to fully understand the event.  We plan to meet next week as soon as full detail are known to determine what actions if any can be suggested to the city to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future.

http://www.mesaaz.gov/home/showdocument?id=3658

This document describes

• the history of the Lehi
• the boundaries of the Lehi sub-area, along with why and how the plan was created

 https://library.municode.com/az/mesa/codes/code_of_ordinances/?nodeId=COOR_ 

• Livestock Ordinance for Lehi  8-6-21: - FOWL, RODENT, AND LIVESTOCK RESTRICTIONS

If you have concerns about increasing traffic on Lehi and would like to serve on a committee to address those concerns, or have some suggestions for improvement, please send an email to

LehiBoard@gmail.com with your name, address and contact information.  

December 2022 Update

Several meetings with the city of Mesa were held late 2022 in preparation  for the application for a Heritage Overlay.   Saturday, Jan 7, 2023 there will be  an additional meeting to gather content for the Heritage Overlay  application through the city of Mesa.  We will review the three types of  heritage designations and review publications and other materials to gather important  historical facts to add to the application. 

The next meeting will be Wednesday, Jan18th, to prepare for the meeting with the city on the 19th where we will present content. 

A  community wide meeting will be planned in February to gather additional  input. As soon as the application is complete, it will work its way  through the city channels with anticipated final date sometime this  summer. 

If you have content that is relevant, or would like  to participate please contact Kim Van Riper at (480) 628-7716 or email  LehiBoard@gmail.com 

November 2022 Update

We are working with city staff to obtain the Heritage Neighborhood

designation. This designation is done through city resolution and does

not contain any regulatory requirements. The main benefit is the

City will recognize our Lehi Sub Area as unique and should be protected

from significant modifications and preserve our historic characteristics.

Significant for its unique heritage, Lehi has maintained its important historic character for over two centuries. Through the efforts of its residents, the Lehi area remains a community dedicated to preserving its history for future generations. Distinct to the City of Mesa, the Historic Preservation Office has established a Heritage Neighborhood designation forareas that express their historic narratives through cultural and physical resources. Designated Heritage Neighborhoods possess a strong sense of cultural cohesion and community identity, along with extant historic architectural resources.  

As such, Lehi is considered an optimal candidate for Heritage Neighborhood designation, as the distinction serves to promote pride in an area's rich history through the help of the Historic Preservation Office and local participants. Heritage Neighborhood designation is not a formal zoning

overlay and does not come with additional restrictions to property owners. If you want to help preserve Lehi's rich history for future generations and have suggestions or would like to serve on this committee please send  an email to LehiBoard@gmail.com with your name, address and contact information. 

Maintaining safe areas to ride and preserving existing riding trails is essential in order to maintain our rural equestrian and recreational lifestyle. New trails are in progress for Lehi!  If you want to preserve your ability to safely ride in our community, and would like to be involved in creating additional riding trails, please send an email to LehiBoard@gmail.com with your name, address and contact information. If you own and ride horses in Lehi, we need to hear from you!   

  Latest News:  2021

• To date, the Lehi  Aviation Impact committee has met once in 2021.  There were discussions on possible avenues moving forward and furthering access to resources for the area, and several additional  community members joined the group for the first time.
• We  reached out to, and met with Senator Andy Biggs' office, who assisted  in writing a letter on our behalf to the FAA asking a multitude of questions.  
• The method used a 'packet' submission exploring the primary causes of extreme impact  in the area.  Questions posed included why studies have not been  done on the impact of FAA decisions on the Lehi Area.   The response from the FAA failed to answer key questions about the 2018  EA done in Phoenix, and maintains that no changes have occurred in impact in this area in 21 years.  They also included a new statement that Lehi is  within the 10 mile final. 
• We also reached out to Senator Sinema and had a teleconference with her team about changes and possible alternatives to the existing plan. This dialog is ongoing and subsequent follow up calls are to be scheduled.
• A  second committee meeting is planned to take place in November with the date TBD.  Ideally the meeting will be simultaneously in person and virtual to allow for more community participation.  The details will be published on the website once it's scheduled.
• In  an effort to strengthen our contacts and learn of more effective solutions  the committee have been in contact with several similar Pacific Northwest aviation noise advocacy groups  They  are planning, with the help of their legislators, to introduce  legislation to ask congress to explore the concept of re-opening  the EPA office which, in the past, oversaw FAA noise and impact issues,  but has since been done away with.    We  also discussed in detail the recently completed FAA study on sound which  discovered lower levels of sound (than currently adhered to standards)  are potentially harmful to human health.   

2020:

• Several  letters were sent out to our Mesa City council representative and to our Mayor, imploring them to consider a city-based resource for impacted  residents - a website, a resources page, or any other formal recognition of impact in the area.
• Communication  with Sky Harbor Aviation department continued, and we are waiting for  'post Covid' times to have a sound station deployed to the area to  obtain a more clear understanding of impact in the area.  In  addition, we were successful in getting the Sky Harbor complaint app modified to allow for multiple conditions to be noted on each  complaint. 
• We  were able to successfully communicate with the FAA Ombudsman with help from Martha McSally's office in 2020.  The FAA maintained their position that nothing has changed in the area in 21 years.   A  good amount of data was provided by Sky Harbor, examining impact in the  area  including consistent with increased in noise levels.
• We were  able to ascertain that the addition and implementation of two new flight  paths in 2018, as well as newly implemented tactics via ATC, have  changed perceived impact in the area.
• We  were in contact with both Tempe TAVCO and Scottdale's SCAANA, and we continue to encourage formation of a 'Regional Body' to address  regional concerns in a more equitable short and long term manner. 
• A 2020 Lehi community survey showed one of the most valued community feature is the 'quiet' enjoyed in Lehi.