Photo via City of Mesa
By Scott Shumaker | The Mesa Tribune
The history and character of the Lehi area of northwest Mesa may receive greater recognition after the City Council voted unanimously last week to make it the city’s second Heritage Neighborhood.
Lehi joins the historically segregated Black and Latino Washington-Escobedo neighborhood in the honor.
The designation calls for the installation of 31 street signs throughout Lehi and six larger neighborhood entry signs at a total cost of about $4,000.
Mesa Planning Director Mary Kopaskie-Brown noted that the Heritage Neighborhood designation is purely “ceremonial” and does not add a historic zoning overlay to the area.
“It’s recognition of a neighborhood without that complication of having additional regulations put on it,” she said.
The lack of historic zoning overlay separates a historic neighborhood from a historic district. Mesa has seven historic districts.
But proponents hope that the Lehi designation nonetheless leads more Mesa residents to recognize its history and the need to protect the rural lifestyle in the area.
