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Springdale mayor: surge of Zion visitors strains housing, transit and parking
Summary
Mayor Barbara Bruno told local listeners that rising visitation to Zion National Park is stressing Springdale’s housing, transit, parking and medical services; the town is pursuing workforce housing, a new clinic and working with SunTran and the county on transit and parking solutions.
Springdale Mayor Barbara Bruno said the gateway town to Zion National Park is seeing rising visitation that is straining housing, transit and parking, and is prompting local efforts to expand workforce housing and health services.
Bruno said Springdale’s resident base includes “about 30% part time people, and we have just under 600 full time people,” and that visitor numbers and changes in the local hospitality market have increased demands on town infrastructure. “In the last 2 years alone, we've had 3 of our major hotels do remodels and rebrand themselves and kind of, up the game,” she said.
The mayor said a SunTran bus route between St. George and Springdale has operated for nearly six months but has low ridership so far; she said employers have offered to pay monthly passes while SunTran “is still kind of tweaking the schedule to make sure that it coincides with the shifts.” Bruno added, “every month, there's a little bit more ridership.”
To expand housing for workers, Bruno said the town has sold two houses and is working on five more with Southwest Community Land Trust; those units are described as moderate-income houses in which residents buy the homes while the land remains owned by the land trust. “People who could not otherwise attain home ownership are getting those houses and they work in the town of Springdale,” Bruno said.
Bruno described the town’s current medical clinic as a “little modular building at Town Hall” operated by Family Healthcare and said the town plans a new clinic with a retail pharmacy, exam rooms and behavioral health services.
Parking and vehicle access remain a concern heading into peak season. Bruno said she expects “an increase in the number of buses and groups that come through once they close the tunnel to 2 way traffic,” and asked the county to consider building a parking lot on county-owned land outside Rockville to help absorb larger vehicles and shuttle traffic.
Bruno also warned that federal budget reductions and recent voluntary retirements at Zion National Park have reduced park staffing, saying the park is “down 40 full time employees” and that short staffing has forced the park to focus on safety and natural-resource protection and has contributed to longer entry lines.
Bruno encouraged visitors to consider staying in Springdale to avoid traffic on Highway 9 and to support local businesses. From Springdale, Melissa Anderson reported on community education news.
