Residents urge clearer youth outreach and indoor play options in Oro Valleys 10-year plan

Malini Sims, a principal planner with the town, opened the Zoom workshop by saying the meetings purpose was to review draft goals, policies and actions for Oro Valley's 10-year plan and to get public feedback. Sims walked attendees through five topic columns and asked for comments on A1 through A3, the draft actions related to supporting all ages.

Residents immediately pressed for clarity on what the plan means by "youth." "I would like to see a little bit of clarification on what you mean by youth," one participant, Emily, said, describing a lack of programs for children under 5 and asking whether "youth" is intended to mean teenagers or younger children. Sims responded that A1 focuses mainly on civic engagement and older youth (teens), and that programming for younger children appears elsewhere in the draft.

The group discussed how the town can better recruit and promote the Youth Advisory Council. Maris, who said she recently completed her application, told the group the application is available online and suggested more outreach inside schools: "If you just search up Oro Valley Youth Advisory Council, they have a website dedicated to the council," she said, and panelists urged staff to promote the council through classroom visits and government classes.

Several residents called for indoor, free-play space that families can access without the time or cost barriers of fee-based classes. "I really feel like we would benefit so greatly from an indoor playground," Emily said, arguing that in Oro Valleys summer heat parents need free, climate-controlled places for children to play. Others noted existing private options (gymnastics and dance studios) and suggested a mixed approach of town-supported community center space plus efforts to attract private providers.

Town staff and officials acknowledged the concern and asked the group whether indoor spaces should be town-provided or encouraged through private partnerships. Paul Melcher, the community and economic development director (speaking as staff later in the meeting), described the need to keep options open in the plan language so implementation could include community development partners or recruitment of nonprofits/private providers.

What happens next: staff said the parks, recreation and trails meetings in April will dive deeper into facility-level details and that the 10-year plan drafts will be revised and re-sent for review.