Gilbert considers long list of potential parks projects

By Tom Blodgett
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Gilbert likes to boast about its national quality-of-life rankings from various organizations, things like: second safest large city in America; No. 1 place to live in Arizona; second fastest rising city; third best rebound in unemployment rates; No. 9 place to raise a family; best median household income. The list goes on. 

But here are a few you won’t see on any town brochures: Ranked last among park systems across the top 100 most populated cities in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land’s 2023 ParkScore system; lowest score for amenities in that assessment; 90th of 100 cities, and worst in Arizona, in WalletHub’s rankings of best and worst cities for recreation. 

“This isn't a lack of trying because we are at max capacity,” Gilbert Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona said. “We've just reached that capacity level in which we can provide those services that the residents are requesting and wanting more of.” 

Among the problems: Only 3% of Gilbert’s land is for parks and recreation, compared to 15% as the national average. The Valley Benchmark Cities 2022 report had Gilbert as third worst in park acreage per 1,000 residents. 

And there are those amenities, or lack thereof. Per 100,000 residents, the town has 1.3 basketball hoops, 1.1 splashpads, 1 playground, 0.7 dog parks, 0.5 restrooms, 0.3 recreation centers. 

But if you won’t find Gilbert officials shouting from the rooftops about those numbers, it does not mean they are ignoring them. The town is in the midst of developing a parks and recreation master plan. Last summer it had an aggressive campaign to seek residents’ input on what they wanted from the town on the matter. 

The response was overwhelming with more than 60,000 engagements, making it the largest response seen for a municipal master plan, doubling the previous largest response for a study in Pflugerville, Texas, according to consultants working with the town. 

“The community was hungry to talk about this subject,” Carmona said. 

The feedback was positive: Gilbert residents love their parks and want more from them. The study showed 70% percent of residents support park or facility development, 79% park or facility improvements, 77% multiuse path development, 75% multiuse path improvements and 61% improved inclusivity and accessibility. 

Those numbers are further supported by actual usage. Gilbert parks, recreation facilities and trails had 5.3 million visits in 2022.  

“That is a staggering number when you think of how many people that's serving on an annual basis,” Carmona said. 

It is better than the combined attendance of Phoenix’s four major professional sports franchises that year. It’s also slightly more than the Grand Canyon National Park had that year. 

Meanwhile, in the past five years, Gilbert Parks and Recreation has seen a 63% increase in aquatics attendance, 45% increase in special events attendance, 55% increase in programming attendance and 93% of the participants rate their experience as good. 

But 25% of residents say the programs are too full and another 28% say the same about the parks. Most of the rest of the nation never climbs above 4% on those questions, Carmona said. 

“Gilbert is far outpacing our parks and our programs being full compared to the rest of the country,” he said. 

From the input the town received, staff identified 10 priorities from residents. In order:  

• Park development; 
• Aquatics facilities/splash pads; 
• A recreation center for southeast Gilbert; 
• Sports fields; 
• Multiuse paths; 
• Community spaces; 
• Dog parks;  
• Indoor and outdoor pickleball courts; 
• Shade; 
• Public art. 

From that the town has 19 potential capital improvement projects to address those priorities. At the top of the list are phases 2 and 3 of Gilbert Regional Park, which still has 185 acres of undeveloped park land. 

But for all the residents want in their park system, there is one thing it might not want. The cost of those 18 projects is estimated at $723.17 million. That includes a consideration for 3% annual inflation compounding over the next five years. 

Finishing Gilbert Regional Park is estimated at $192.13 million. But the park, which opened in 2019, has been a huge hit among residents and draws numerous phone calls inquiring about why the town stopped further development, Carmona said. 

“This is not a park built for one user group,” he said. “This is a park built for everybody in Gilbert. No matter what your interest level is, no matter what your physical capabilities are, you have a space to recreate and call your own.” 

The next three priority projects also are big-ticket items: Desert Sky Park phase 2, bringing more sports fields ($104.48 million); a recreation center ($69.03 million); and a south Gilbert pool ($58.42 million). Council, however, has expressed little support for the pool, citing the expense of building and maintaining it, the difficulty in staffing it and the opportunity for the private sector to fill the void. 

After that the list is mostly trail development and improvements like lighting. The exceptions are three Freestone Park projects: a pickleball complex ($16.21 million), ballfield improvements ($20.7 million) and a splash pad ($4.81 million). 

Carmona, speaking to council members at a capital improvement projects workshop Dec. 11, outlined benefits of further developing the system, beyond meeting a strong desire of residents. Those included increasing property values, helping attract businesses, increasing tourism and generating sales activity and lowering public health costs. 

Add on physical activity, social interaction and improved mental health, and Carmona hopes the community will be willing to make the investment. 

Council members, in reacting to Carmona’s presentation at the workshop, expressed hope that in some cases, public-private partnerships can be worked out to help with some of the funding and also considered what the town might get in cost recovery. 

But much of that $723 million, or whatever the final tally is if projects are pared down, will have to come from taxpayers. Council is considering asking voters to increase the sales tax and/or approve a bond to help pay for these capital improvement projects, plus ones for the police and fire departments. 

Council members also want to make sure residents all over town benefit, as the growing portion of the town in south Gilbert lacks many amenities. Carmona indicated his department is on board with that. 

“It's also about making sure we're spreading these projects around to all of Gilbert,” he said. “It's not just benefiting one community, it's benefiting all.” 

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X. 

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).