3.5 TRAFFIC & SAFETY ACTION
- Dr. Robert Cannon, Chair: RLCannon7@gmail.com
BYLAWS REVIEW
- Lara Sands: lsands@hotmail.com
BLOCK WATCH
- Bobbi Ryals, Chair: WilloBlockWatch@gmail.com
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
- Sandra Lefcovich, Chair: lefcovichmoreno@gmail.com
- Linda Doescher: ldoescher@kcpagels.com
- Jeremy Schachter: jeremys@fairwaymc.com
- W. Aaron Montano Searles: wsearles@gmail.com
HISTORIC REGISTRATION AND RENEWAL
- Gene Nance, Chair: genenance1@gmail.com
HOME TOUR 2025
- Crawford Breedlove, Co-Chair: crawford@alliancebc.us
- Courtney Southerland, Co-Chair: willohometours@gmail.com
INSIDE WILLO MAGAZINE
- Sandra Lefcovich, Editor: lefcovichmoreno@gmail.com
- Megan Desmond Martinez, Advertising Director: insidewilloadvertising@gmail.com
- Ralph Groom, Art Director: ralphgroom3@gmail.com
KLEANSTREETS/YARD SALE
- Patrice Wappel, Chair: iwilliam13@gmail.com
LUMINARIA
- Chris Norton, Chair: vividviews@gmail.com
SOCIAL COMMITTEE
- Jonathon Roberts, Chair: willosocialcommittee@gmail.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Jeremy Schachter, Chair: jeremys@fairwaymc.com
WILLO KIDS CLUB
- Valerie Lane, Chair: ValerieLane@hotmail.com
ZONING
- Eric Gilmore, Chair: eric.b.gilmore@gmail.com
The Willo Board meets on the second Thursday of each month, September through June, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. See below for specific upcoming board meeting details and dates. Visit our calendar page to see a schedule of upcoming board meetings and other events.
Meeting Location:
Arizona Opera
1636 N Central Avenue, Phx., 85004
Residents can also participate via Zoom - to join the Zoom meeting, click here.
The Willo Neighborhood Conservation Plan created a Special Conservation District for our neighborhood when it was approved by the Phoenix City Council in 1986. The neighborhood association exists to “promote and support” this plan, as stated in the bylaws. The bylaws also dictate the rules establishing our 13-member board. They provide other details regarding neighborhood association meetings, financials, and membership.
Membership in the association is not automatic when you move into the neighborhood.
Membership is not required to receive Inside Willo Magazine, attend association meetings, or go to neighborhood functions like happy hours. Membership is required to vote, though, and it is required for all individuals running for and serving on the board. Membership is “opt-in,” meaning that residents must indicate that they would like to become a member of the Willo Neighborhood Association.
This can be done by using either the online membership opt-in form or the paper opt-in form. The link to opt in can be found in the Membership section of willophx.com, and at the end of this article.
Membership must be renewed annually to be valid. All memberships expire on December 31 and should be renewed each year in January, or whenever a new resident wants to establish membership during the year when they begin residence in Willo.
According to the bylaws, membership is open to any member who resides in the conservation plan’s boundaries, and who is of voting age (18), including renters. Membership is limited to four members per household. Membership is free of charge!
The Willo Neighborhood Association is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization whose budget plan runs from May 1 – April 30 each year. Much of the Association's funds are raised during the annual Home Tour: tour tickets, vendor booth rental, sponsorships, and so on generate funding that pays for necessary items like meeting spaces, printing Inside Willo, and landscaping in our two parks, traffic bump outs, and roundabouts. The Association also applies for several grants that help fund holiday luminarias, rubbish bins at neighborhood events, and other administrative costs. Each spring, the next year’s annual budget is presented and approved by the board no later than the April meeting.
Each month thereafter when a meeting occurs, the Treasurer prepares a report with an update on the budget, which is then reviewed by the board and generally approved. Neighborhood association meetings happen each month, usually on the second Thursday evening, with the exception of July and August when the association does not meet. View our calendar here.
Typical agenda items at the meetings include reports from our Phoenix Police Department’s Community Action Officer, updates on zoning issues in and around Willo, various requests from neighbors for the board to address a question or concern, and updates from committees.
Historically, meetings are held in person at the Arizona Opera on Central Avenue. The link to join the meeting online is posted on willophx.com, and is shared in the neighborhood Facebook page prior to the meeting. Unfortunately, attendance at monthly neighborhood association meetings is often low, although spirited discussion frequently occurs.
If you haven’t done so, consider attending a neighborhood association meeting. Perhaps you will be inspired to run for a board position in a future election or volunteer on a committee.
The biggest event in Willo each year is the Home Tour, which happens every February, usually on the third Sunday. Since the Home Tour’s beginnings in the 1980s, it has happened every year except for 2021.
When Home Tour planning gets going each winter, expect to hear about many opportunities for neighbors to volunteer at the event. Other fun things brought to you by the neighborhood association are Kids Club events that focus on our youngest residents (and their parents), the monthly neighborhood happy hours and other events organized by the Social Committee, the holiday luminaria lining every street at the end of December, and this and every issue of Inside Willo that is hand-delivered to your door by volunteers…the list goes on and on.
All of these fun things involve work to create them, so the neighbors who get together to organize them are appreciated. If you have questions about any of these events, please come to a neighborhood association meeting, or contact your favorite board member or committee chair.
Contact information for all of these individuals can always be found on page 5 of Inside Willo Magazine.
The Willo Neighborhood Association is NOT a homeowners’ association.
This means that the association does not have the authority to issue citations for blight, regulate the paint colors residents choose for their homes, or dictate what kind of landscaping residents use. Residents must refer to and follow the regulations that apply within the City of Phoenix; for example, Willo neighbors sometimes ask whether the City is responsible for trimming palm trees that grow in the easements (the strips of land between the street and the sidewalk). Phoenix City Code, Chapter 39, Section 39-7D states:
Property owners are responsible for keeping their properties, and the adjacent rights of way, free of dead or dried vegetation (weeds, tall grass, tumbleweeds, shrubs, trees, palm fronds, etc.). All dead or dried vegetation must be removed and disposed of properly.
Property owners are also responsible for assuring that grass and weeds on their property and in the adjacent rights of way do not exceed six inches in height.
So, the answer is no, the City is not responsible for trimming those palm trees or maintaining that easement – it’s up to the property owner and/or resident.
Sidewalk repair and maintenance is similar: owners whose property abuts the sidewalk are responsible, per Phoenix City Code, Chapter 31. Furthermore, if someone is injured due to a defective sidewalk, the property owner who is responsible for that sidewalk shall be liable. Read more at this link to relevant sections of the Code regarding sidewalk repair: https://phoenix.municipal.codes/CC/31_ArtIV_Div2. At least we don’t have to shovel snow from our sidewalks in the winter.
While it is not always the most captivating reading, taking a look at the Phoenix City Code once in a while can be informative and enlightening. You can find the complete Code at this link: https://phoenix.municipal.codes/