Annual Cost of Maintaining "Vistoso Preserve Park"

Main mission: Walking paths that can be legally and safely used by residents

The town is pursuing the purchase of the former Vistoso Golf land.  Some residents have opined that the town in doing this without knowing what the cost will be to maintain this park.

To some extent their claim is true. 

That is only because the town has not yet decided exactly for what the property will be used. Will it be solely a path park? Will there be more?

The "bare bones" use of this land is that it will be a walking path system. The town does have an estimate of what that will cost. Other, more costly uses have been "floated" such as adding recreation areas, maintaining the former irrigation pond, opening the restaurant, and adding an amphitheater. These are all ideas that will be future considerations.  

The property already has walking paths

The 208 acre property already has paths, some paved, that residents are already using for walking.  They are trespassing in doing this since it's now private property.

The rest of the property is overgrown golf fairways and greens that are reverting to a natural state, which is a good thing except for the invasion of noxious weed species. There is erosion of some paths at wash crossing locations. There are also three rest rooms.  All that's really needed is to add ADA compliance to some areas of the path and to remove growth that hinders walking.  

There are also some buildings on the land, including a restaurant. They are all usable but their maintenance and future use is really a diversion because they could be closed with no impact on the paths.

Estimated annual cost of maintaining walking paths ranges from $54,000 to $258,000, depending on scope of facility

A PROS Consulting report commissioned by the town (see note) estimates that it would cost $258,000 annually to maintain the property as a natural open space conservation park. The concept they present in their report (page 36) is beyond the "bare bones' of simply having walking paths. It also includes use of the building on the premises by the Vistoso Community Association and some "light touch recreation."

The group Preserve Vistoso and local Vistoso residents believe that the town's study presents many options that are "...neither required or desired to achieve the goal of a nature preserve and trail.The vision is to restore the property to its natural desert state and provide a walking path using the existing cart path. The initial work and associated costs are modest with the potential to enhance the property over time, using concepts outlined in the study the town commissioned. This natural evolution of the property would be the same as is currently being planned for the town’s other parks in the 10-year plan." (Source: Email from the group, Preserve Vistoso). They have received estimates from a major landscaping company that annual maintenance of the property will be about $54,000 annually.''

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Note: The Town of Oro Valley commissioned PROS Consulting to do a feasibility study of incorporating this land into the town’s parks and recreation system. PROS is the firm that is working with the town to create a Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The study was provided to town council in October. It was conducted prior to Romspen’s LLC rejection of an offer for private ownership.