Higley Park residents ready to clean up again

Higley Park residents will take to the streets again this Saturday to clean up their Gilbert neighborhood marred with blight after its developer walked away earlier this year.

Neighbors have organized several clean-ups to pull weeds and pick up trash, but for this clean-up, residents will be helped by Arizona Association of Community Managers.

Higley Park received a Community HOPE Grant from the organization that will provide landscapers and other maintenance workers for the cleanup day.

About 500 volunteers, including AACM workers, church groups and Boy Scouts, will work to clean the community.

"The community was really meant to be upper-end and beautiful with tree-lined streets and lots of interior parks," Linda Lang, AACM president and chief executive officer.

"The tumbleweeds are close to 5- to 6-feet tall," Lang said. "You can't see anything when you drive through."

Randall Martin, one of Higley Parks developers, abandoned the development in February and it quickly fell into disrepair. The developer also failed to pay assessments for vacant lots and left the homeowners association strapped for cash.

The original plan called for 608 houses to be built in the community but only 139 lots have been sold.

The Randall Martin lots were sold at a trustee sale in October, but another developer Stillbrooke Homes has also failed to pay assessments.

Neighbors formed a committee to address concerns because the community isn't developed enough to transition the homeowners association to residents' control.

Because of the community's efforts, Higley Park was named Neighborhood of the Year at the Gilbert Community Excellence Awards.

The cleanup is 7 a.m. - noon Saturday at the neighborhood near Ray and Higley roads.