San Tan Valley Town Code: Parking, Fireworks and Curfew Rules Take Shape

Key Points

• Council reviewed draft Articles 7 through 11 on May 6. No vote was taken.
• The town takes over public rights-of-way from Pinal County on July 1.
• The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will handle parking enforcement under an intergovernmental agreement.
• Subdivisions with private streets, such as Solera, stay under HOA control.
• State law restricts whether HOAs can regulate parking on public streets inside their communities.
• Residents can petition for a Residential No-Parking Zone. The draft requires 90 percent of residents on the street to sign.
• Consumer fireworks would be allowed only on May 4-6, June 24 through July 6, and December 26 through January 4. Use on town property is prohibited.
• Roadside vendors who set up on the shoulder of Hunt Highway and similar roads would not be allowed. Billingsley said most cities direct vendors to private parking lots through a temporary use permit and business license.
• State law now requires the town to allow summer construction starting at 5 a.m. Concrete pours can start at 4 a.m.
• Minors under the age of sixteen years cannot be away from their residence from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Minors sixteen years of age or older and under the age of eighteen years cannot be away from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.
• Animal control rules will continue to be Pinal County’s, adopted by reference.
• Drafts will return to Council in about two weeks.

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SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ — On May 6, the San Tan Valley Town Council heard a presentation on draft Articles 7 through 11 of the San Tan Valley Town Code. The articles cover business licensing, traffic and parking, fireworks, smoking, curfews, animals and parks in the newly incorporated town.

Attorney Matt Podracky of Pierce Coleman walked the Council through the draft language. The presentation was for discussion only, and no Council action was taken. Among the issues raised was who will enforce parking on neighborhood streets once the town takes over public rights-of-way from Pinal County on July 1. Under the draft framework, the town will own the public rights-of-way and contract enforcement to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. Subdivisions with private streets will remain the responsibility of their homeowners associations. State law now restricts which associations can regulate parking on public roadways that run through their neighborhoods.

What the San Tan Valley Town Code Articles 7-11 cover

The draft articles are part of the broader municipal code the town is drafting before its July 1 operational independence from Pinal County. The Council began discussing the code development process in November 2025, reviewed Articles 1 through 3 in December and reviewed Articles 4 through 6 on finance, police and courts in February. Podracky told the Council the code is “a living document” that will be amended over time as state laws change and local needs evolve.

A new Section 7-5 covering food carts will be added to Article 7 at the town manager’s request.

The May 6 draft articles, subject to revision before final adoption:

• Article 7 (PDF) — Business regulations, including business licensing, peddlers and solicitors, yard sales and telecommunications.
• Article 8 (PDF) — Offenses, including trespass, graffiti, noise, fireworks, smoking, curfew and camping.
• Article 9 (PDF) — Traffic, vehicles and e-bikes.
• Article 10 (PDF) — Animals, adopting the Pinal County Animal Control Ordinance by reference so the county’s existing rules apply inside town limits without being rewritten into the town code.
• Article 11 (PDF) — Framework for future parks and recreation facilities.

Parking enforcement shifts to the town on July 1

Town Manager Brent Billingsley told the Council that all public street rights-of-way in San Tan Valley are currently owned by Pinal County. “After July 1st, we will own all the public right of ways,” Billingsley said. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will continue to handle enforcement, including traffic and permitting, under an intergovernmental agreement.

However, that transfer does not extend to subdivisions where the streets are private. Billingsley pointed to Solera, a 727-home active adult community within Johnson Ranch, as a local example of a subdivision where the HOA owns and maintains the streets rather than the town. When Councilmember Gia Jenkins asked whether a private street meant a gated community, Billingsley said the gates were not the determining factor. What matters, he said, is whether the town owns the right-of-way and maintains the street. “We don’t actually own any right of way. We don’t own the street. We don’t maintain the street. It’s all the HOA’s responsibility behind those gates,” he said.

Billingsley also explained why most homeowners associations cannot currently enforce parking on their streets. “The whole parking and HOA thing is very complicated. We could talk for a couple hours on it,” he said. Two state law changes over the past decade restricted that authority under ARS 33-1818. Planned communities with declarations recorded before January 1, 2015 could keep their existing parking regulations only if they held a membership vote by June 30, 2025, and a majority of a quorum voted to continue. Associations whose declarations were recorded after that 2015 date have no authority over public roadways at all.

Mayor Daren Schnepf asked which rule wins when an HOA adopts its own parking restrictions and the town has a parking code in place. Podracky said the answer depends on whether the street is private or public. Attorney Allen Quist added that HOAs operate under contractual relationships with their members, separate from town code, so enforcement avenues run independently.

Hudgins describes parking spillover into landscaping

Vice-Mayor Tyler Hudgins shared a problem from his own neighborhood. After strict parking enforcement began there, residents started parking on their landscaping to avoid fines. He described vehicles turned sideways in driveways with two more cars parked in front, and others pulled onto the rocks that make up many front yards in the area. Hudgins asked whether the new code could address that behavior.

Public Works Director Chris Wanamaker co-wrote the parking ordinance while serving as Pinal County Engineer, and the same framework is being carried into the San Tan Valley Town Code. Pinal County had no ordinance regulating parking on public rights-of-way before then, a situation Wanamaker had previously called a “free-for-all.” The county proposed the ordinance before the June 30, 2025 deadline that stripped many HOAs of authority over public roadways, and adopted it on July 2, 2025.

Wanamaker described the approach as a balance between two extremes: residents who want no street parking at all and those with multi-vehicle households, such as families with several driving-age children or visiting relatives. He told the Council the framework also has to account for older neighborhoods that were designed when households owned fewer cars, leaving today’s residents with limited driveway and garage space for their vehicles.

The San Tan Valley draft gives the town engineer direct authority to post no-parking signs. It also creates a petition process by which residents on a given street can request a legally enforceable Residential No-Parking Zone. According to the Article 9 draft, the petition must carry signatures from 90 percent of residents on the affected street segment. Where an HOA is involved, written HOA support is also required.

However, parking on private property such as a front yard is not a public right-of-way issue. “That would be code enforcement,” Wanamaker said, noting it would fall under the zoning code rather than the parking provisions in Article 9.

Business licensing rules and a state lawful-presence requirement

Podracky walked the Council through the licensing rules in Section 7-1. Under Arizona Revised Statute 41-1080, the draft requires individual applicants, unless exempt, to present documents showing lawful presence in the United States before a business license can be issued. Licenses would run for a one-year term and be administered by the Town Finance Department, though Podracky said that designation could be changed at Council direction. The Council would set annual fees by resolution, and applicants would have appeal rights for denials or revocations. The draft also exempts producers selling agricultural or other food products they produce themselves, subject to filing an affidavit with the Town Clerk, and authorized town special events. Podracky added that a state law change a few years ago means residential rentals can no longer be licensed or regulated by Arizona cities and towns.

Councilmember Bryan Hunt asked whether an online-only startup would need a license under Section 7-1. Podracky said internet-based businesses generally are not covered because the “locus” of the business is rarely in San Tan Valley. He pointed to Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, as an example. Billingsley confirmed the licensing requirement typically applies to brick-and-mortar operations. Podracky added that cities and towns recently won a lawsuit allowing them to capture sales tax on online orders shipped into their jurisdictions. Billingsley said efforts to change that outcome are ongoing.

Vendor licensing and roadside stands

Hudgins also asked about roadside vendors such as tamale carts and fruit stands. Billingsley said vendors must apply, identify their business and provide a location. Setting up on town property is generally not an option, he said, because state law requires the town to first put the opportunity out to bid and competitively select vendors before allowing private businesses to operate on land it owns.

Billingsley laid out the safety reasoning. Vehicles pulling off the road where no exit point exists create a hazard for the vendor and customers alike. The dirt shoulders sit in a PM10 area and have not been dust-proofed, raising visibility concerns for passing drivers. Drivers re-entering traffic may lose traction or encounter a grade difference. “So for the town’s liability, a lot of what you see, for example, on Hunt Highway where folks just set up on the side of the road, we won’t allow that,” Billingsley said.

In response, Hudgins acknowledged the safety concern but asked whether the town could designate a specific approved location for vendors. Billingsley said most cities direct vendors to private parking lots through a temporary use permit, paired with a business license. Food trucks and coffee trailers often operate that way in the Valley, though some food trucks are exempt from licensing under state law.

Peddlers, solicitors and yard sales

Walking the Council through Section 7-2, Podracky said door-to-door peddlers and solicitors would need a business license and would be limited to operating between 8 a.m. and sunset. Booths, stands and carts on town property would be prohibited unless tied to an approved special event or Council action. Podracky listed exemptions for charitable, religious, educational, patriotic, political and philanthropic organizations when no fees are charged, along with newspaper and routine deliveries.

For yard sales, Podracky said Section 7-3 would limit residents to four sales per calendar year, with no single sale lasting more than 48 hours. Sales would be confined to daylight hours, and a $1 licensing fee would apply to each.

Telecommunications, fiber optic cable and right-of-way

Section 7-4 addresses telecommunications and four separate franchise categories under Arizona law: public utility franchises under ARS 9-501, telecommunications under ARS 9-581, wireless providers under ARS 9-591 and video service providers under ARS 9-1401.

The code aims to manage town rights-of-way, treat providers without discrimination, encourage competition and set fair compensation for the use of town property. Podracky noted that minimizing conflicts with existing utilities matters as new fiber optic providers expand into the area. “You don’t want them crashing into your gas pipes,” he said.

Noise, fireworks and smoking

The noise ordinance uses an objective decibel standard tied to local zoning districts. Industrial zones allow more noise than residential zones. Billingsley said he, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and the county attorney’s office worked on the language for about a year and a half. The draft also reflects a 2025 state law change allowing summer construction (May 1 to October 15) to begin at 5 a.m., with concrete pours starting as early as 4 a.m. The rest of the year, construction hours run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with concrete pours allowed beginning at 6 a.m. Fourteen exemptions are included, such as emergency sirens and landscape equipment operated between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Fireworks are governed by ARS 36-1601. The draft permits supervised public displays under fire marshal oversight. Consumer fireworks may be used May 4-6, June 24 through July 6, and December 26 through January 4. Selling consumer fireworks would be limited to April 25 through May 6, May 20 through July 6, and December 10 through January 3, with special signage required. Consumer fireworks cannot be used on town property.

Hudgins, noting he has small children and a dog at home, said he is not a fan of the large windows of time when fireworks are allowed. He suggested a future draft could narrow them, possibly to three-day windows.

Smoking rules will recognize the Smoke-Free Arizona Act under ARS 36-601.01. The town code will additionally prohibit smoking in town-owned buildings and vehicles. Smoking will generally be banned in public parks and trails, although the town manager may designate certain sections as smoking areas. The definition of tobacco products will include vapes.

Curfew, camping, animals and e-bikes

Under the proposed curfew, minors under the age of sixteen years cannot be away from their residence between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Minors sixteen years of age or older and under the age of eighteen years face a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. The draft includes exceptions for minors who are accompanied by a parent or guardian, responding to an emergency, in the military, or married and at least 16. With parent or guardian permission, exceptions also cover minors traveling directly to or from work by the most direct route, attending a supervised school or religious activity, or exercising First Amendment rights.

Camping is prohibited on public streets, alleys, sidewalks, rights-of-way, parks, parking lots and other town-controlled property unless authorized by a special use permit. The draft also prohibits camping within 500 feet of any school, childcare facility, shelter or park. The definition is broad. It includes sleeping, storing belongings, using a tent, shelter, vehicle, camper, trailer or other structure for sleeping, building fires, and cooking outside of town-provided fire pits or barbecue pits. Citations generally require prior warning, reasonable notice or posted signage before being issued.

For animals, Article 10 adopts the Pinal County Animal Control Ordinance by reference, incorporating the county’s existing rules into the town code without rewriting them. Podracky said his understanding is that the town will also enter an intergovernmental agreement with the county for ongoing animal control services. The e-bike section will define bicycles, electric bicycles, non-human-powered vehicles and electric assistive mobility devices such as scooters. The code will specify where these can be operated and assign responsibility to parents and legal guardians of minors who use them, with the town seeking their buy-in to make sure minors operate the devices safely.

Parks and recreation framework

San Tan Valley does not yet have town parks or trails. Article 11 authorizes the town manager to set rules for future facilities, including hours, permits and closures. The draft authorizes the town manager or designee to establish, adjust and collect fees for programs, passes, permits and rentals, following fee policies adopted by the Town Council.

Coming back to Council

Podracky said he will return in approximately two weeks with revisions reflecting Council comments. Mayor Schnepf noted the draft will come back to Council before final adoption.