12 March 23rd–March 29th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | viable option for any resident so far. “We are not going to be able to move any mobile homes to my knowledge,” he said. That leaves homeowners in the three mobile home parks with few options but to abandon their trailers and find new places to live. Some residents will qualify for a small pool of money — $1,875 per trailer, and $3,125 for multi-section mobile homes — from the Arizona Department of Housing’s fund for mobile home park resi- dents. The fund offers more money — between $7,000 and $12,500 — to help with relocation expenses. Still, for most of the residents, relocation simply is not an option, even with the stipends. Moratorium, Zoning Restrictions Proposed For developers, purchasing mobile home parks in the Valley can be a lucrative investment strategy. But that comes at a cost to the longtime residents, who are being evicted. To combat this, the city councilmembers proposed several ways to stop the wave of mobile home park development. Four policy proposals are headed to the full city council for a vote, after Guardado, Garcia and Ansari unanimously agreed to move them forward. The first is an 18-month moratorium on the development of the Las Casitas, Periwinkle, and Weldon Court properties, which is designed to prevent the evictions from taking place before other changes halting mobile home development go into effect. The councilmembers also recom- mended that the city partner with a nonprofit to study the city’s mobile home parks. The city would then use the study to create a special zoning overlay, which would prevent property owners from rede- veloping mobile home parks and changing the land use without city approval. Ansari also proposed a new emergency fund, using $2.5 million of federal COVID-19 relief dollars, which would be used to help mobile homeowners secure new housing in such cases. To go into effect, the policies will have to be approved by the full city council — meaning that Guardado, Garcia and Ansari will need at least two more councilmem- bers to join them to pass the policies. City staff has already raised some concerns about the zoning overlay and the develop- ment moratorium, arguing that state law protecting property rights could put the city at legal risk. But the councilmembers resolved to move the policies forward regardless. “What is happening to each one of you is unacceptable, absolutely heartbreaking, and simply wrong,” Ansari said. | NEWS | released a briefing related to the killing of Jason Resendez. The 47-year-old was shot by a Phoenix police officer in the area of 29th Avenue and Madison Street. Resendez died on February 22 — the same day as Holmes. The footage shows two officers approaching Resendez in the course of an investigation into a stolen vehicle. He pulled out a gun from his waistband and did not drop it for several seconds after officers commanded him to do so. One officer then shot at him. Growing Death Toll So far in 2023, the Phoenix Police Department has been involved in at least eight deaths, including six fatal shootings: • January 3: Officers shot and killed Cosme Medina Núñez, a 46-year-old man who was holding a pair of scissors. His family in Mexico has been struggling to get his body back to his home country. • January 7: Officers shot and killed Kenneth Hearne, 37, who was armed with a handgun. Hearne shot a Scottsdale police officer the day prior. • February 11: Bryan Funk, a 40-year-old man who had just been released from prison, died after multiple officers pinned him to the ground, knelt on his back, and restrained his legs during an arrest. • February 22: Holmes died of a gunshot wound. Although officers fired at Holmes, the agency has said the preliminary investi- gation shows that the fatal wound was self-inflicted. • February 22: Officers shot and killed Resendez, who had pulled out a gun as officers approached him. • February 25: Officers shot and killed Matthew Anthony Sansotta, 36, during a DUI investigation. Body camera footage related to Sansotta’s death has not yet been released. • March 6: Officers shot and killed James Saucedo, 42. Although no body camera footage or dispatch audio has been released yet, officers said Saucedo shot a woman and then pulled a gun on officers when they arrived. • March 7: Officers shot and killed Anthony Castro, 40. No body camera footage or dispatch audio has been released, but officers said Castro was stabbing a woman when he was shot. In 2022, Phoenix police officers shot and killed 10 people — an increase over the six shooting deaths in 2021, according to data from the Washington Post. The fatalities in 2022 included 34-year-old Ali Osman, who was throwing rocks at officers. His death drew widespread outcry last fall. His family filed a lawsuit over the shooting in February. Dead from p 9 Boot from p 11
