Council adopts parks and trails map, adds First Oak Street Nature Trail; staff to host guided tours

The Phoenix City Council voted to adopt Resolution 1168 to formalize an official parks and trails map and added the First Oak Street Nature Trail to the map, a move staff said would strengthen future grant applications and clarify where the city wants to prioritize trails and restoration.

Planner Mr. Moody told council the map is a policy tool to help the city apply for grants and guide master planning, not a survey or an obligation to build every trail shown. "This resolution doesn't mean that this is a finite map," he said, adding that the map helps with grant competitiveness and provides guidance for future planning while the city continues to work on trail location details, ADA compliance and risk management.

Why it matters: Council and community members framed the map as a way to coordinate funding and restoration work for riparian areas with many informal social trails. Supporters said the map is needed to pursue recreation and transportation grants; others pressed for stronger protections and clearer rules for commercial or educational uses in sensitive riparian zones.

Blackberry Academy, an education provider that uses park space for outdoor classrooms, asked council for clarity about which external agencies or codes might prohibit uses in riparian zones and whether a small, bounded outdoor classroom adjacent to trail access could be permitted. "If there are jurisdictions saying this activity cannot happen... we need to know who is giving us those regulations," a representative for Blackberry Academy told council, urging sideboards and a well‑defined classroom footprint.

Public commenters including Robert Coffin and Scott English voiced support for the resolution and urged careful restoration and community engagement. Staff agreed to develop color, larger‑scale maps and to load the map into the city's GIS for an interactive website layer. Council members requested guided walking tours of proposed trail corridors and a June 30 civic‑center briefing on park concepts and potential facilities.

Vote and next steps: Council moved the resolution (as amended to include First Oak Street Nature Trail) and recorded roll call votes; the measure passed. Staff will provide more detailed maps, schedule guided tours for council and the public, and continue outreach with watershed, sewer and conservation partners to refine protections in riparian areas.