Meritage Homes Continues To "Trash The Desert" (Part 2)

Meritage Homes is literally trashing the desert. Yesterday we published Part 1 about this. It focused on the timeline from November 2021 through April 2022. Today, we focus on the latest. Both articles were written with information provided to LOVE over the past ten months from Amy Eisenberg, Ph.D.
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June and July 2022

Another 50 pounds of trash discovered including rusty barbed wire
Dr. Eisenberg cleaned up another 50 pounds of trash left by Meritage Homes, AT&T, and American Tower employees. She again called The Oro Valley Police Department to report the violation. She later dragged up two large tangles of rusty barbed wire and garbage from the Pima County Open Space Conservation Zone, including a tire on the Silverhawke Trail near American Tower where desert tortoises reside.

Eisenberg continued to implore Meritage Homes, American Tower, and AT&T workers to stop dumping their trash over the enclosure and into the desert and to show some respect for the wildlife that lives there. Dr. Eisenberg reports that after much prompting and pushback, American Tower cleaned up their enclosure and AT&T cleaned up their adjacent gated enclosure.

August 2022

Broken glass and Meritage Homes signs found on the ground
By August, Dr. Eisenberg had cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel. She is concerned that “if a baby tortoise eats this trash, they could become ill and die.”

On August 3, 2022, Eisenberg reported broken glass and many pounds of garbage including two tires which she removed from the Silverhawke Spur Trail off of Palisades Road. She asked the Town to have someone adopt this trail and clean up the broken glass “to protect native creatures.” Eisenberg also found two Meritage Homes signs left on the ground. She again asked for the Town’s assistance in requiring that Meritage “clean up the desert surrounding their construction site.”

The Town explains their compliance process

“Per our compliance process, once the violation has been rectified the violation is closed. So, when the compliance staff determines there is litter outside of Meritage’s property, Meritage is notified of the violation, Meritage will send out a crew to clean up the litter and when the Town follows up to confirm, the violation is closed, each time. A fine is considered when the litter is not picked up from several violation notices. This has not been the case with Meritage, each time they are notified about the litter, it is picked up.

The Town continues to keep eyes on this project and works closely with Meritage to remind their trade partners of cleanup expectations.”

According to the Town, the problem has been rectified. According to Dr. Eisenberg, the problem is ongoing and she continues to pick up the trash herself and continues to report the problems to the Town and the OVPD.

An unsustainable situation
It appears that the Town only addresses each individual episode and then it's "case closed" and that a fine is only considered if they do not pick up the litter after receiving several violation notices.  The fine should not just be "considered."  It should be mandatory.  This ongoing trash problem is an unsustainable situation.  LOVE has asked the Town if they have a protocol to address a builder who continually fails to control the litter on their job site.  We are awaiting a response. 

Between Meritage Homes construction debris, Pima County not maintaining their Open Space Conservation Zone, and Silverhawke residents’ trash blowing onto the trail and surrounding area, Dr. Eisenberg believes that this trail needs regular stewardship.

We still do not understand why Meritage Homes was never fined. After all, if a person/company does not suffer the consequences for their behavior, they have no reason to change their behavior.
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Meritage Homes Continues To "Trash The Desert" (Part 1)

This article was written with information provided to LOVE over the past ten months from Amy Eisenberg, Ph.D.  (Her bio appears at the end of this article).  She has been in frequent contact with town and county officials regarding an ongoing problem with Meritage Homes leaving their trash in the Silverhawke development and surrounding desert (First, Tangerine, and Palisades Road). Their discarded trash blows into the conservation area where Sonoran desert tortoises reside.
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November 2021

Dr. Eisenberg reported extensive trash in the Silverhawke development area. Town Staff inspection confirmed her report.
Dr. Eisenberg emailed the mayor and council about Meritage Homes leaving their trash in the desert. She had already picked up hundreds of pounds of trash that Meritage Homes workers had dumped over the wall (where they were building homes) into the desert where Sonoran desert tortoises reside. She noted to law enforcement that if an individual person litters this way, they would be fined, yet “Meritage Homes continues with impunity.”

Although she was happy that Mayor Winfield had been picking up this trash during his walks in the area, she asked, “What will you do besides clean up after them as you carry a trash bag on your walks?” She stressed that this issue needs to be resolved proactively rather than after the fact.

Town sends violation letter to Meritage
On November 4, 2021, a violation letter was sent from the Town to Meritage Homes after the Town Compliance Staff inspected the site on two occasions and found extensive trash both times.  The Town cited, "an accumulation of trash not being contained and drifting into the adjacent properties and within the build site on individual lots" and "As per the conditions to obtain a permit, each construction site is required to maintain cleanliness at the worksite."  Meritage was told to, "Please remove or otherwise dispose of the materials immediately" and that "failure to comply with the conditions stated in this letter is a violation of town code."  However, as of November 17, 2021, Dr. Eisenberg reported that the trash still had not been picked up.

The Town also informed Dr. Eisenberg that:

"...the trail has been given over to the Town, which makes it adoptable for community members. The southern section of the trail was adopted by the Mayor and his wife, which is why you see them out there. The northern portion is still available for adoption."

It sounds as though Meritage has, in essence, been given "permission" to toss their garbage everywhere knowing that volunteer town residents will pick it up later. That may not have been the town's intent, but it sure sounds as though Meritage Homes employees are interpreting it that way. 

Dr. Eisenberg contacted local media and Meritage Homes after she picked up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel.
On November 21, 2021, Dr. Eisenberg contacted local media and Jeff Grobstein of Meritage Homes. She informed them that she had “just returned from walking the trail by American Tower on the development parcel between Tangerine, Palisades and First” and that “Meritage Homes did not clean up this area.” She noted “unacceptable desecration” and that Jeff Grobstein was “not adequately supervising his workers.”

On November 24, 2021, she again contacted the Town and Meritage Homes noting, “Extensive trash dumped by Meritage homes along the [Silverhawke] conservation easement trail near American Tower on the parcel between Tangerine, First and Palisades” and that Meritage had already “destroyed tortoise and gila monster burrows” in this conservation area and that she and a friend had already “cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash on this parcel.”

Later that day, she was told by the Town that their Compliance Staff was working with Meritage to ensure that litter outside of their property was being cleaned up. As you will see below, this did not happen.

April 2022

Mayor Winfield agrees that there is a problem.
In mid-April, Dr. Eisenberg once again cleaned up several pounds of trash left by Meritage Homes, including “construction material with rusty nails along their sidewalk endangering native animals that pass through the area.” Additionally, some of this trash “had blown into the conservation zone by American Tower (between Palisades, First, and Tangerine). She reported the problem to the OVPD and the Town Council.

On April 19th, she received the following email from Mayor Winfield: (LOVE added the bold print).

“Thank you for picking up litter on the slope behind American Tower. My wife and I also picked up litter in the area you’re describing on three different mornings in the past two weeks. Litter has been a problem and Meritage has done a poor job addressing the litter generated by their contractors. We frequently walk the trails in the Silverhawke area and we have observed litter is decreasing because much of the construction is completed. I imagine once the construction phase is completed the HOA may step forward and adopt the trails. If not I’m sure someone will.”

Dr. Eisenberg responded:

“Meritage Homes benefited from the conservation easement, therefore they should assume the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves. This ongoing abuse is deeply disheartening. They continue to desecrate this conservation zone.”

Why hasn’t Meritage Homes been fined?
LOVE wonders: If the town agrees that Meritage Homes has done a poor job of addressing their litter problem, and this problem has been going on for months, why hasn’t Meritage Homes been fined?

Part 2 will be published tomorrow and covers the timeline from June through August 2022.
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Dr. Eisenberg is an ethnoecologist and botanist who teaches at the University of Arizona and is an Associate Scholar with Center for World Indigenous Studies. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles on indigenous peoples’ issues, social and environmental impact assessment, and sustainable natural resource management.