Residents of the Sunridge Canyon subdivision in Fountain Hills do not want the Town to develop a park site in their neighborhood. Several residents of the subdivision, including HOA officials, turned out to the Town Council meeting Jan. 18 to express concerns about the proposed facility.

The speakers cited traffic, noise, parking and other concerns related to a public park. They also noted that Sunridge HOA maintains park sites throughout the neighborhood and has no need for a Town facility.

The Town owns the roughly five-acre site, which had been earmarked as a site for a third fire station.

The discussion at the Council meeting may have been prompted by two instances in which the Town reached out to the neighborhood seeking input related to the park proposal. One of those was a meeting that included Town Manager Grady Miller and Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin. The second is an online survey seeking input from residents.

Since that discussion at the Council meeting occurred at the time for call to the public, Council members could not respond to residents’ concerns (the state open meeting laws prohibit discussion of items not on the official meeting agenda). However, the Town has followed up with a statement providing background and its planning related to Sunridge Park.

“The Town has had this park project in its plans since at least 2010,” the statement says. “Initially, this park was conceived as a smaller park adjacent to a proposed fire station in the exact location. Though the Town no longer needed a fire station, the proposed park remained in the Town’s plans for new parks.

“Sunridge Park is in the current capital improvement budget as a five-acre park project. Due to the ruggedness of the site, staff was planning on the park being more passive with ramadas and walking paths to preserve the current appearance.

“During a previous Town Council discussion about the proposed Sunridge Trail, Council gave direction to staff to construct a parking lot for the park first, as the streets in the area were too narrow for on-street parking.

“Last summer, (Goodwin and Miller) were invited to a board meeting of the Sunridge HOA to talk about the proposed McDowell Mountain Preserve trail and park. However, about 80 neighborhood residents were in attendance instead of the anticipated HOA board at the meeting. Most of the residents indicated that they opposed the proposed trail and the park during the session. As the meeting had become heated, Miller stated that if most Sunridge residents were opposed to a park, then the Town wouldn’t pursue it.

“To obtain more information from the entire Sunridge community (787 homes) about the proposed park, Town staff developed a survey to ascertain what amenities, if any, would be desirable in the proposed park. At the Jan. 18 Town Council meeting, residents opposed to the park reacted to the Town survey that their HOA emailed to collect information and opinions.

“The survey is due to conclude at the end of January. Staff will hold a public meeting with the Sunridge residents to share the survey results in February. Then the survey results and feedback from the residents will be shared with the Council very close to the actual meeting date with the residents.”

At one point the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission and Sonoran Conservancy had proposed a new trail access into the Preserve from the area near Sunridge and Desert Canyon drives across from the park site. The Preserve extends fairly close to that location and officials thought it would offer an alternative access to the Adero Canyon Trailhead. However, any trail connection from this location would need to cross open space land owned by the Sunridge HOA. The opposition to that trail access by the HOA has mostly scuttled that plan.

Sunridge Park is included in the Community Services Master Plan adopted by the Town Council last year. That master plan describes Sunridge Park as follows:

“The Town researched regional and national standards and potential service level improvements in developing the plan and solicited community feedback through surveys, online forums, and community presentations.

“Ideally, communities strive to have a park within a 10-minute walk from every residential home. Consistently, nearly 80% of Fountain Hills’ residents indicated they desire to have parks within easy access. As a result, several future park locations have been identified as part of the Community Service Master Plan.

“The first of these future parks is already underway. Over the next several months, the Town will start the design process of Sunridge Park, a new five-acre park located at Sunridge Drive and Desert Canyon Drive. Sunridge Park will be a ‘passive park,’ with fewer structures than a typical community park resource. Initially, this site was destined for a future fire station and community playground. Under this original plan, a parking area, fire house, and active play features were planned for this location. If this were to occur, fire trucks would need to use their lights and sirens in responding to an emergency. Following changes to the General Plan, the full plot was reallocated for park use.

“Sunridge Park is funded through Development Fees and will feature a walking loop through the natural terrain that will allow visitors to hike up a short hill to enjoy mountain views. Additionally, several fitness stations will be integrated within the hiking loop and shade ramadas with picnic tables. The hours of use for the park will be dawn to dusk.”

While the Town will complete the survey it appears the Master Plan description for Sunridge Park may be obsolete.

At least one man identifying himself as a Sunridge resident did speak to the issue of whether the Town might choose to sell the site if it cannot use it as a park. He wondered what the neighborhood might be in for then.