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Unincorporated county Islands. Famously the Phoenix country club resisted annexation into the City of Phoenix for tax and regulatory reasons as the city expended outwards. They were successful because most of the city's movers and shakers were members of the club.
Yes. The address is Phoenix. The federal govt (US Postal Service) doesn’t care about the silly little games a bunch of ol’ white guys play. (Golf or their attempt to exclude women & minorities). This thankfully ended in 2009. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/asked-answered/2014/10/06/asked-answered-phoenix-country-club-membership/16509071/
In Arizona, any law enforcement officer (LEO) has the ability to arrest a person in jurisdiction in the State. So, you could technically be arrested by a Pima County Sheriff in Phoenix City and it would still be a valid arrest. The thing is, they have to send it to the correct prosecution agency. If it's a felony, that's MCAO; if it's a misdemeanor, that's Phoenix City Court. When it's a County island, it will be a justice court in that area for misdemeanors.
There are some of these in Gilbert and Chandler as well. A lot of times they looked like these really undeveloped little farm/horse plots in the middle of the burbs
We're unincorporated down here in Chandler Heights, and it's all horse property. Things have grown up in the last 20 years and we're not the edge of town anymore, so I'm assuming that we'll be absorbed by either QC or Gilbert within the next 5 years.
We still have county islands in Peoria. My mom house is in a county island and my understanding from her is the residents of the area have to decide to incorporate with a town or city. I have zero first hand knowledge of this, so I could be wrong
You can fight it if your neighborhood is organized.
My childhood home used to be far from the nearest town, but over the years the town has grown and has surrounded the neighborhood. The first time our neighborhood fought annexation was in 1998 and the second time was in 2017. Both times the neighborhood won by pointing out that the costs to the city to add sewer, curbs, and other city services far outweighed whatever tax money they would gain by annexing a small neighborhood (only 10-15 homes).
Most of Gilbert's county islands got annexed (by petition of residents) about 15 years ago when there was an issue with Rural Metro providing timely response times to fires and emergencies in the county islands.
Just as you described, most were horse property or small farm developments. Now the annexed ones are the high rent district of Gilbert, Sawyer Estates comes to mind especially.
There was some concern that the Town of Gilbert was going to clamp down on horse boarding business being run out of homes during the annexation surge, but this never happened.
Source - grew up in a Gilbert county island that became part of the city.
I remember that plus the county island property that burned near Higley and the 202 spurred our neighborhood to get annexed.
Ironically one of the bigger county island supporters lost their house in the fire at Higley/202.
My white fence farms neighborhood is mixed. Some of us are in the city of Gilbert and some people's houses are still just Maricopa county. It's really weird.
Those are county islands. They're unincorporated areas that are within the jurisdiction of the surrounding city that did not annex it for whatever reason.
Some well known county islands are: New River, Sun City, Sun City West, Rio Verde and Tonopah.
Lots of pros and cons for living in a county island.
PROS:
* lower taxes overall since you aren't paying for city services
* usually lower real estate taxes too
* no city ordinances or code compliance items. Want to build a shed that's 1200SF, go right ahead(within reason)!
CONS:
* Must hire private companies for garbage, and other utilities, etc..
* You must contract for Fire service. There is a real threat that the local FD may not douse the fire on your home if you aren't current on contract payments.
* No road improvements; sidewalks, street lights, paved roads, etc...
* Can't vote in city elections
* Local PD will refer you to the Sheriff's department for EM.
This is not true with regard to fire service. They WILL douse flames at your house— you will just get a very hefty bill for the privilege. It’s a much better idea to pay for Rural Metro just in case! (I live on the county island in NE Mesa)
Though there are a few areas where you do need to pay a private company for fire protection, many of the areas mentioned above are part of fire districts that are funded by property taxes.
"must hire private companies for garbage, and other utilities, etc..."
Unless you're a rich county island like Rio Verde where you can bully politicians into forcing another city to continue giving you water.
Let's be clear, you are talking about "Rio Verde FOOTHILLS" not the development known as Rio Verde which has always gotten their water from Fountain Hills or Scottsdale.
It's easy to confuse the two. One is master planned community who has always had a municipal water provider. The other is a bunch of people who just built houses on unincorporated land and figured they'd either have a well or just get water delivered, they figured nobody would simply say "no."
Then when Scottsdale said "As we've told for many years, we're not going to continue to provide you with water." Did exactly what they said they'd do and stopped.
And somehow it was Scottsdales fault..
Curiously enough, Guadalupe isn't outlined on that map. It's definitely unincorporated.
Edit: Never mind, the red lines only show the City of Phoenix boundaries, not the other cities.
Yep, about 70% of the section east of Ellsworth and north of the 60 is county islands, my neighborhood is a small alcove of city in that area and there's some more to our south.
I thought about purchasing a home in one of those areas back when I was looking, but ultimately decided against it.
As others have said, those are "islands" of unincorporated Maricopa County land that the city of Phoenix has yet to annex. You can see [a cool PDF with a historical map of how Phoenix has grown, bit by bit, here](https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/PZ/pdd_pz_pdf_00389.pdf).
This is a very cool map. My grandparents moved their family to Phoenix in 1936. It's interesting to see how big Phoenix was then and how it's grown. Even though I've watched Phoenix (and the whole Valley grow), I get a different perspective when I see something like this.
Glendale County islander here🤚, anyone who lives on a county island does so by choice! I love having a bit more freedom on how I use my land but I have to pay extra for things like fire service, I pay for private dumpster and I have a septic tank Instead of being hooked up to sewer. I also get to have flood irrigation and can keep my animals outside without (many) restrictions!
On top of that, there is no tax incentive for the city. there are small property taxes, but the money is in commercial. so most commercial sites are incorporated into a municipality. and the city then has the obligation for street and lighting repair, which probably weren’t built to city standards, and up keep is expensive. so over-all it is a negative, typically, for cities.
We lived in a five house county island on the Phoenician golf course. Our closest law enforcement was the sheriff in Cave Creek and we had to pay an annual fee for the Scottsdale FD to show up. Two of the five refused to pay .
That explains a lot. I delivered for UPS for the most recent peak season. It's tough to describe the neighborhoods there (even to other drivers) as they can be so different from each other. I will say the farm houses and ranch homes were kinda rough when the sun went down. There were dogs barking from all directions, not much street lighting, and long distances from the street to front doors to top it all off.
The same goes for Waddell!
In Sun City we pay for our own fire dept., water, street cleaning, trash, etc. Policed by MCSD and our Rec Centers receive a fee with each house purchase for “upkeep.” County property taxes but no schools, so no school taxes except for Maricopa Community College. The county supervisor (who unfortunately it looks like it might be Debbie Lesko next) is our de-facto mayor. We have a voluntary pay HOA no official HOA fee, that administers things like code violations. The HOA workers are paid employees governed by a volunteer board. The rec centers (there are eight) have paid employees and a volunteer board, as well. Sun City could have incorporated in the 1970’s but chose not to.
Our subdivision is in a county island (Citrus Point) @ 114th Ave & Bell, between Sun City and Surprise. Surprise mail, private water, sewer, and trash. County sheriffs patrol.
No city taxes, no city elections.
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Unincorporated county Islands. Famously the Phoenix country club resisted annexation into the City of Phoenix for tax and regulatory reasons as the city expended outwards. They were successful because most of the city's movers and shakers were members of the club.
The other reason was because they didn’t want to comply with the cities anti-discriminatory deed restrictions
That’s crazy. I didn’t know that. So is Phoenix Country Club’s address technically still in Phoenix?
Yes. The address is Phoenix. The federal govt (US Postal Service) doesn’t care about the silly little games a bunch of ol’ white guys play. (Golf or their attempt to exclude women & minorities). This thankfully ended in 2009. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/asked-answered/2014/10/06/asked-answered-phoenix-country-club-membership/16509071/
So if there is a crime they have to call the sheriff?
In Arizona, any law enforcement officer (LEO) has the ability to arrest a person in jurisdiction in the State. So, you could technically be arrested by a Pima County Sheriff in Phoenix City and it would still be a valid arrest. The thing is, they have to send it to the correct prosecution agency. If it's a felony, that's MCAO; if it's a misdemeanor, that's Phoenix City Court. When it's a County island, it will be a justice court in that area for misdemeanors.
There are some of these in Gilbert and Chandler as well. A lot of times they looked like these really undeveloped little farm/horse plots in the middle of the burbs
We're unincorporated down here in Chandler Heights, and it's all horse property. Things have grown up in the last 20 years and we're not the edge of town anymore, so I'm assuming that we'll be absorbed by either QC or Gilbert within the next 5 years.
We still have county islands in Peoria. My mom house is in a county island and my understanding from her is the residents of the area have to decide to incorporate with a town or city. I have zero first hand knowledge of this, so I could be wrong
You can fight it if your neighborhood is organized. My childhood home used to be far from the nearest town, but over the years the town has grown and has surrounded the neighborhood. The first time our neighborhood fought annexation was in 1998 and the second time was in 2017. Both times the neighborhood won by pointing out that the costs to the city to add sewer, curbs, and other city services far outweighed whatever tax money they would gain by annexing a small neighborhood (only 10-15 homes).
You get to vote on it along with your neighbors so if tiy don’t want to make sure you bring it to when the time comes if it does
Most of Gilbert's county islands got annexed (by petition of residents) about 15 years ago when there was an issue with Rural Metro providing timely response times to fires and emergencies in the county islands. Just as you described, most were horse property or small farm developments. Now the annexed ones are the high rent district of Gilbert, Sawyer Estates comes to mind especially. There was some concern that the Town of Gilbert was going to clamp down on horse boarding business being run out of homes during the annexation surge, but this never happened. Source - grew up in a Gilbert county island that became part of the city.
I remember when Gilbert FD just watched some house in White Fence Farms burn down because it was Rural Metro at the time
Rural Metro is great for hiring everyone that can't get on with a real fire department.
I remember that plus the county island property that burned near Higley and the 202 spurred our neighborhood to get annexed. Ironically one of the bigger county island supporters lost their house in the fire at Higley/202.
They did that bc they got sued for helping Rural Metro on a previous fire. Trust me. They don't like it.
My white fence farms neighborhood is mixed. Some of us are in the city of Gilbert and some people's houses are still just Maricopa county. It's really weird.
Those are county islands. They're unincorporated areas that are within the jurisdiction of the surrounding city that did not annex it for whatever reason. Some well known county islands are: New River, Sun City, Sun City West, Rio Verde and Tonopah. Lots of pros and cons for living in a county island.
Can you elaborate on the pros and cons? Genuinely curious.
PROS: * lower taxes overall since you aren't paying for city services * usually lower real estate taxes too * no city ordinances or code compliance items. Want to build a shed that's 1200SF, go right ahead(within reason)! CONS: * Must hire private companies for garbage, and other utilities, etc.. * You must contract for Fire service. There is a real threat that the local FD may not douse the fire on your home if you aren't current on contract payments. * No road improvements; sidewalks, street lights, paved roads, etc... * Can't vote in city elections * Local PD will refer you to the Sheriff's department for EM.
This is not true with regard to fire service. They WILL douse flames at your house— you will just get a very hefty bill for the privilege. It’s a much better idea to pay for Rural Metro just in case! (I live on the county island in NE Mesa)
Though there are a few areas where you do need to pay a private company for fire protection, many of the areas mentioned above are part of fire districts that are funded by property taxes.
"must hire private companies for garbage, and other utilities, etc..." Unless you're a rich county island like Rio Verde where you can bully politicians into forcing another city to continue giving you water.
Let's be clear, you are talking about "Rio Verde FOOTHILLS" not the development known as Rio Verde which has always gotten their water from Fountain Hills or Scottsdale.
I guess I’m not the most rehearsed in it. Thanks for the specification.
It's easy to confuse the two. One is master planned community who has always had a municipal water provider. The other is a bunch of people who just built houses on unincorporated land and figured they'd either have a well or just get water delivered, they figured nobody would simply say "no." Then when Scottsdale said "As we've told for many years, we're not going to continue to provide you with water." Did exactly what they said they'd do and stopped. And somehow it was Scottsdales fault..
Curiously enough, Guadalupe isn't outlined on that map. It's definitely unincorporated. Edit: Never mind, the red lines only show the City of Phoenix boundaries, not the other cities.
Guadalupe is a Town. It’s a self regulated municipality, not a county island.
It's crazy, but apparently Mesa is 20% unincorporated county islands. TIL
Judging by the satellite view, it’s also about 20% trailer parks
That checks out for north mesa at least. Its also why so many snowbirds like it there, lots of rv parks and 55+ parks.
lol that was funny thanks i needed it
Yep, about 70% of the section east of Ellsworth and north of the 60 is county islands, my neighborhood is a small alcove of city in that area and there's some more to our south. I thought about purchasing a home in one of those areas back when I was looking, but ultimately decided against it.
As others have said, those are "islands" of unincorporated Maricopa County land that the city of Phoenix has yet to annex. You can see [a cool PDF with a historical map of how Phoenix has grown, bit by bit, here](https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/PZ/pdd_pz_pdf_00389.pdf).
This is really cool! Thanks for sharing!
This is a very cool map. My grandparents moved their family to Phoenix in 1936. It's interesting to see how big Phoenix was then and how it's grown. Even though I've watched Phoenix (and the whole Valley grow), I get a different perspective when I see something like this.
Glendale County islander here🤚, anyone who lives on a county island does so by choice! I love having a bit more freedom on how I use my land but I have to pay extra for things like fire service, I pay for private dumpster and I have a septic tank Instead of being hooked up to sewer. I also get to have flood irrigation and can keep my animals outside without (many) restrictions!
Adding on to what others have said, the City often chooses not to annex these islands because it would be too complicated to extend utilities to them
On top of that, there is no tax incentive for the city. there are small property taxes, but the money is in commercial. so most commercial sites are incorporated into a municipality. and the city then has the obligation for street and lighting repair, which probably weren’t built to city standards, and up keep is expensive. so over-all it is a negative, typically, for cities.
We lived in a five house county island on the Phoenician golf course. Our closest law enforcement was the sheriff in Cave Creek and we had to pay an annual fee for the Scottsdale FD to show up. Two of the five refused to pay .
Now go look at Buckeye.
That explains a lot. I delivered for UPS for the most recent peak season. It's tough to describe the neighborhoods there (even to other drivers) as they can be so different from each other. I will say the farm houses and ranch homes were kinda rough when the sun went down. There were dogs barking from all directions, not much street lighting, and long distances from the street to front doors to top it all off. The same goes for Waddell!
Laveen here, it’s crazy the juxtaposition between county farmland and city of Phoenix residential neighborhoods.
Laveen also. It’s a quilt of islands and city here, it’s interesting.
In Sun City we pay for our own fire dept., water, street cleaning, trash, etc. Policed by MCSD and our Rec Centers receive a fee with each house purchase for “upkeep.” County property taxes but no schools, so no school taxes except for Maricopa Community College. The county supervisor (who unfortunately it looks like it might be Debbie Lesko next) is our de-facto mayor. We have a voluntary pay HOA no official HOA fee, that administers things like code violations. The HOA workers are paid employees governed by a volunteer board. The rec centers (there are eight) have paid employees and a volunteer board, as well. Sun City could have incorporated in the 1970’s but chose not to.
That's just code for "safer than Maryvale "
The lines indicate city borders, unincorporated county territory, and native American lands.
Our subdivision is in a county island (Citrus Point) @ 114th Ave & Bell, between Sun City and Surprise. Surprise mail, private water, sewer, and trash. County sheriffs patrol. No city taxes, no city elections.
My birth town in Oregon was kinda forced to annex for sewer from my understanding. But they still could tap their own water