Several weeks ago we reported that the town was offering Disc Golf at the Pusch Ridge Course for the next four months. We thought nothing of this. However, according to the homeowner associations that financially support the town’s golf courses, Disc Golf is not an approved use of the course and is causing problems for residents.
Pusch Ridge Course is a single use facility
Speaking at last weeks Oro Valley Town Council meeting, Ray Dissinger, President of the El Conquistador Homeowners Association, and resident Chuck Crowley, speaking for Tony D’Angelo, President of the Group Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf, noted that the Pusch Ridge Course designation in the 2020 Parks and Recreation master plan is “conservation area/trail park”. They noted that the Pusch Ridge Golf Course is designated in the plan as a single use facility. Further, they note, Disc Golf was not a planned use of the Pusch Ridge Course because it is not golf.
It appears that town staff moved forward with Disc Golf at the Pusch Ridge Golf Course on their own. They did not seek nor did they get the approval of those homeowner association who financially support it. Nor did they seek or get the approval of the town council.
Staff has been meeting with the group Tucson Disc Golf Club for the past year and a half to make Disc Golf a reality (see panel right). In their Facebook posting, the Tucson Disc Golf Club thanks members of their club for making his happen. According to D’Angelo, one of these people is a manager in the town’s Parks and Recreation Department,. D’Angelo wonders if the town Town Council is aware of the special relationship between the Tucson Disc Golf Club and this town staff member.
No advance discussion of Disc Golf with stakeholders
D’Angelo does not understand why the Parks and Department did not hold at least one meeting between residents and the Tucson Disc Golf Club , sponsor of Disc Golf, to discuss potential problems before starting the operation. He wonders why the town did not introduce their negotiating partners to the residents living adjacent to this facility.
Is this really a four month test or is their more to it?
Given the fact that the Tucson Disc Golf Club has been working on this for a year and a half and has funded the equipment installation, it is surprising that the Parks and Recreation department has said that Disc Golf is a test for the next four months. D’Angelo wonders why a third party would invest this much for a simple test. Is it the town’s expectation to operate both real and Disc Golf at the same time in the fall or is the true intention to replace golf with Disc Golf on a permanent basis?
Disc Golf is already causing problems for homeowners
According to D’Angelo, Disc Golf is already causing problems. Last week, a home was hit and damaged by several discs in just the first two days of Disc Golf operation. “Most alarming is that [the homeowner] had to stop two young men from climbing a tree to reach his elevated patio so they could retrieve a disc.
This is not the only incident of Disc Golf players entering resident fenced patios to retrieve discs unannounced or uninvited.”
Meanwhile town staff fails to focus on what is important for building a sustainable Pusch Ridge Golf Courxe
While all this has been happening, D’Angelo asserts that town staff has spent very little time exploring how to make this golf course environmentally sustainable via turf reduction, improved water efficiency or bringing reclaimed water to the facility as staff was directed when the council approved a February 17, 2021 motion to reopen the golf course. There was no direction in that motion to look at alternative uses of the course.
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