Building compromise
San Luis OKs grace period for illegal shade structures
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — In what San Luis officials hope will resolve a problem brewing since 2015, City Hall will give residents a 1-1/2 year grace period to remove or correct shade structures that do not comply with the city’s building codes.
San Luis Mayor Gerardo Sanchez made the announcement this week amid complaints from residents over what they saw as the city’s aggressive crackdown on illegal ramadas and other shade structures on residential property.
In all, city inspectors have identified nearly 120 structures that don’t comply with standards, and the city in February began sending out notices to residents to remove or upgrade them or face the prospect of being prosecuted in municipal court.
The extension gives residents whose shades were erected before Jan. 1 time to meet with city planning and zoning department officials to decide what steps must be taken to bring the structures into com-
pliance with building and safety standards. The homeowners previously had been notified they would have 30 days to make the corrections.
“This extension is based on comments (residents) made at a public meeting and what they have said when they have met with staff of the (planning and zoning) department,” Sanchez said. “They weren’t being given enough time to do the upgrades. In their opinion, 30 days was very little. Now they’ll have enough time.”
Sanchez’s announcement came one day after Jorge Villicana, a leader of a group of residents protesting the city’s crackdown, took out recall petitions against four unnamed city council members.
Sanchez said the potential recall had nothing to do with the decision to grant the extension. “We had been considering (the extension) for several weeks, because we saw that only five people had made appointments to meet with staff and review their cases, and because it was going to take more time than we thought — in just one of the cases (the resident and city staff) met for nearly an hour and a half.”
Following Sanchez’s announcement, Villicana said a recall effort is on hold for the time being.
“The (extension) caught us by surprise,” he said. “I don’t know if I will continue on with the recall. It all depends on how this process turns out, if it ends up being good for us.”
While granting the grace period, city officials have made it clear that ultimately they will enforce all city and state regulations relating to residential shade structures.
Villicana said the residents are not asking the city to overlook the rules, only that it allow residents to make the needed improvements as time and their finances permit.
Sanchez said residents who have been notified their structures are noncompliant will have to sign up with the city in order to take advantage of the grace period, and to find out what corrections they must make.
The controversy over shade structures began in 2015 when the city began sending out notices to residents about the violations. The city council ordered the notices suspended, prompting some residents to believe the city had decided to allow existing structures to remain in place.
San Luis officials said they made no such commitment to “grandfather” existing structures that did not meet codes.
While the regulations ultimately must be met by everyone, Sanchez said, the city has the authority to grant the extension.
“No law is going to be broken, all that is happening is they are being given a longer time frame to regularize their structures.”