Council approves Exhibit A concept to restore West Granite Creek Park; neighbors raise trail-safety concerns
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Summary
Prescott officials approved Exhibit A, a conceptual plan to restore West Granite Creek Park with a smaller parking footprint and a circular drop-off; the vote passed 5–2. Neighbors and Prescott Alternative Transportation urged redesign of the drop-off because it sits over an established Greenways Trail.
The Prescott City Council voted 5–2 on Nov. 4 to adopt Exhibit A as the conceptual plan for West Granite Creek Park and asked staff to include the project in the next fiscal year capital-improvement program budget.
Parks and Recreation Director Christy Diaz Trahan presented two plans developed after council direction in February. Both plans include park restoration, an ADA parking space, reduced parking compared with an earlier 44-space design, trail connectivity, plantings, play features and a drop-off area. Exhibit A emphasizes a pull-through circular drop-off and 20 parking spaces (including one ADA space) with short pedestrian routes to the splash pad; Exhibit B retained more open recreation area and used a raised crosswalk and a “pinch” in the road to slow vehicles.
During the presentation, a city traffic engineer supplied distances from the drop-off and parking areas to the park bridge and splash pad: Exhibit A’s drop-off is about 130 feet to the bridge and approximately 200 feet from the parking area; Exhibit B’s routes were longer (250 feet to the bridge) and the Sprouts parking lot route was approximately 700 feet. Diaz Trahan said both designs meet the council’s four requested elements: restoration, reduced parking, an ADA space, and a drop-off.
Public commenters and members of the West Granite Creek Park Restoration Coalition, led by Sue Napp, urged the council to reconsider the Exhibit A drop-off location because it lies on the alignment of the Greenways Trail and, they said, places motorized vehicles directly in conflict with pedestrians and bicyclists. Napp cited federal guidance that discourages placement of motor vehicles on trails and asked that, if a drop-off is required, the city redesign it to separate vehicle flow from trail users.
Council debate centered on restoration versus circulation and safety. Public-safety staff and the city’s traffic engineer favored Exhibit A for sight lines and emergency vehicle maneuverability; several councilmembers noted Exhibit A takes up more park area but argued it reduces vehicle–pedestrian conflicts at the raised crosswalk proposed in Exhibit B. Councilman Montoya and others noted multiple, non-conflicting pedestrian access points in Exhibit A and highlighted the need to minimize pedestrian–vehicle interactions near the splash pad.
Outcome and next steps: Council adopted Exhibit A and directed staff to prepare a project budget for inclusion in the next fiscal-year CIP. Staff and coalition members said they will continue collaborating on final design, site furnishings and plantings; staff confirmed trails and walkways will be designed to ADA standards.
Speakers quoted: Christy Diaz Trahan, Councilman Eric Gamboge, Councilman Montoya, Councilman Moore, and coalition speaker Sue Napp.
Votes at a glance: Adoption of Exhibit A concept plan for West Granite Creek Park — Passed 5–2.
Topics: parks_recreation (justification: major presentation, extended council debate, public comment and formal vote; scores: topic_relevance 1.00, depth_score 0.95, opinionatedness 0.05, controversy 0.55, civic_salience 0.6, impactfulness 0.6, geo_relevance 1.00)
Provenance: topicintro: transcript at 00:30:14 where Parks Director introduced two concepts; topfinish: transcript at 00:58:59 where council voted to adopt Exhibit A. Evidence spans include the presentation, engineered distance clarifications, public comment and the final recorded motion.
