Tucson City Council votes for 45 day suspension of Reid Park zoo expansion

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PETITION UPDATE

Victory!

Jess Flax

Tucson, AZ, United States

MAR 10, 2021 — 

“Earlier today, the Mayor and Council voted 6-1 to suspend the contracts for 45 days so that the Reid Park Zoological Society can work with the community to identify other locations for their expansion. There is still a lot of work to do, but the public will be involved in the decision making process from here on out when it comes to our public park land. Thank you again to the over 30,000 people who signed this petition! It is incredible that we were able to come together to stand up to an entity with enormous political and financial power to ensure that our treasured parkland is secured for many more generations. Thank you for your signatures and comments on this petition, letters to the editor, phone calls, emails, and every other way that you participated! Again, there will be updated and the public (especially in Ward 5 and Ward 6) will be involved in coming months. There is still work to do to make sure that all stakeholders act in the best interest of the community, since it is possible that Barnum Hill and the duck pond will still be considered. We look forward to working peacefully and collaboratively with the Reid Park Zoological Society and we recognize that the zoo is also a treasured, important institution in Tucson. Please join our Facebook group Save the Heart of Reid Park and visit our website www.savetheheartofreidpark.org to keep involved.”
Carolyn’s note:  Didn’t seem right that this original Prop 203 never mentioned this particular zoo expansion and taking of the south duck pond and Barnum Hill, a water feature beloved and open to the public. The so-called public meetings after that Prop. 203 vote (which only passed by 633 votes) were not advertised well to the public, the nearby neighborhood associations, and were poorly attended.  Councilman Steve Kozachik (Ward 6) cast the sole no vote for a delay.
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Hopefully a win-win solution can be found, that the 30,579 people who signed this Change.org petition will have their comments listened to. Thank you all for your support of this issue.

3 thoughts on “Tucson City Council votes for 45 day suspension of Reid Park zoo expansion”

  1. Well, the 45 days are up and the Mayor/Council voted to save the south duck pond & Barnum Hill, and instead directed City staff to work on a new concept using D and G options: https://blogforarizona.net/mayor-council-vote-for-new-concept-d-g-for-proposed-reid-park-zoo-expansion/. The Zoological Society said they would collaborate and do whatever the Council voted on. Vote today was 6-1 with Ward 6 Councilman Steve K voting no, still wanting Options B & C, which would destroy the beloved south duck pond and hill. His argument was to stick to the original contracts saying that the City of Tucson would not be trusted again to honor their contractual commitments.

    • Yes I think so too, due to the huge uproar/public outcry. A reasonable solution may have been reached earlier, but at least the Tucson City Council finally acted on this controversy. I saw this petition grow from a few thousand to 30,000 plus. Part of the problem was that people/voters did not feel that anyone was representing their views of wanting to save a public park for the public good, and not letting the zoo that charges admission take it over.

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