By Allie Seligman | The Arizona Republic
The rural way of life that drew Ladona Stallings to a patch of desert outside the northwest Valley may be the reason she and her neighbors could lose a battle pitting mountain views and saguaro cactus against the addition of 200-foot-tall power lines.
The 69-year-old woman and her husband are among fewer than 800 residents in Wittmann, which has a post office and an elementary school but isn’t quite a town. No mayor, no elected council, no homeowners associations.
It’s an idyllic spot for a person looking to trade city living and HOA rules for a bit of breathing room, enough land to keep horses and wide-open Arizona skies. It’s a drawback when fighting to stop proposed power lines nearly as tall as high-rise condos from going in 200 feet from your front door.
Most people in Wittmann heard late last year about the possible power-line route, part of a planned 38-mile Arizona Public Service Co. line to strengthen the Valley’s electric grid. They say placing the lines down Cloud Road could cripple property values, destroy pristine desert and put their health at risk.
Cloud Road is a bumpy dirt stretch, with custom homes on acre-plus lots.
The lines would also impact residents of two nearby communities, Circle City, which is even smaller than Wittmann, and Morristown, population 227.
The currently approved plan — placing the lines about a mile north of the Stallingses’ home — is still troublesome, residents say, but less detrimental than the one that places the lines just steps from the edge of their properties.
