I am but one of many Phoenix, AZ residents who have experienced the intrusive scrutiny of the City of Phoenix's Neighborhood Services Division regarding their current blight ordinances. I live in central Phoenix, and over the years I have been cited for absurd violations like having flexible screening material visible in my backyard facing the alleyway, displaying decorative pottery, and simply enjoying native plants existing in my yard, as they do in the surrounding desert. None of these things pose a health or safety hazard to my neighbors nor myself, yet we are forced to comply with these and many other of the city's purely aesthetic-centric codes. This is an overstep of the city government, plain and simple.

These innocuous personal choices become piles of fines and bureaucratic red tape in our city, wasting and misusing our taxpayer money and judicial powers. These restrictions encroach on our personal property rights and threaten the independence we should otherwise enjoy as property owners in the U.S.A., the land of the free. The city government should not have this kind of power over our own land, which we pay for and pay taxes on.

Data from the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Preservation Division reveals that, in a recent year, over 15,000 citations of blight were not directly tied to health and safety concerns. These statistics reflect a system attempting to overstep its boundaries in order to extort money from its citizens and affect properties it does not own, and it is in desperate need of reform. We're calling for an adjustment to Phoenix's blight ordinances, stripping away freedom-denying regulations that do not directly relate to the health and safety of our communities.

Moreover, any supposed health and safety violation's enforcement should be preceded by a specialist/professional's review and endorsement declaring the existence of such a health or safety hazard, protecting homeowners from ungrounded and baseless restrictions. Property owners who desire a manicured neighborhood are welcome to reside within a Homeowner Associations (HOA)'s jurisdiction, of which there are many. All other residents shouldn't be subject to such regulations unwillingly, and enforcing non health-and-safety related codes is a denial of the pursuit of happiness as such.

Join us in a stand for personal freedom and property rights. Sign this petition urging Phoenix's policy makers to reform unnecessary, intrusive, and freedom-denying common blight ordinances. Help set a precedent that values property owners' rights and focuses enforcement and use of taxpayer money for issues that legitimately impact community health and safety.

This petition aims to:

• Require the Neighborhood Services Department to obtain endorsement from a relevant specialist/authority that a specific condition on a specific property is indeed a clear and present danger, prior to delivering a Notice of Ordinance Violation.

• Rid City of Phoenix Code of any ordinances not strictly related to health and safety (any that only involve aesthetic matters) such as:
- Presence of inoperable vehicles
- Outside storage
- Use of flexible screening material
- Display of decorative pottery and other decorative items
- Fences in "disrepair" (not including ones which pose a bona fide hazard)
- Living vegetation
- Non-dust-proof parking
- Display of signage
- Graffiti
- Having more than 2 garage sales per year
etc...