Parking Lot Threat is Back! 

URGENT: City Council will VOTE Nov. 3 on a NEW proposal to turn part of West Granite Creek Park into a parking lot! 

Please show them that Prescott citizens want a safe, car-free park and trail:

• Write to all councilmembers, even if you wrote them before: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Attend Council meeting and bring friends: Nov. 3, 3:00pm at City Hall

Ask City Council to drop the parking lot idea forever and let us restore this final section of West Granite Creek Park. We've come so far toward saving our park from being paved into a parking lot. Let's not lose it now! Thank you for writing letters and spreading the word so this parking lot vote cannot happen without the outcry it deserves.

Click the images below for a printable flyer to post and distrubute, and a slideshow with lots more information about this looming threat:

Celebration May 2, 2026

Our May 2nd celebration brought together about 50 fans of West Granite Creek Park (WGCP) to tell stories of the origin back in the late '90s 

through the destruction and now the triumphant restoration. We also heard from experts about the watershed and the birds who live in the park. Attendees got to spread native grass and wildflower seeds, offer names for our 21 new trees, and post their wishes for the future of the park.

This first phase of the restoration took just two months with the majority of the work done by our Coalition volunteers and funded by our donors and sponsors. In late March, with help from City staff, we planted 21 trees (see photos below). Final touches were spreading the mulch and installing a cedar split-rail fence to define the trails and protect the seeded areas. With the new water catchment basins, mulch, and trees our park is once again becoming a lovely green space with the Greenways Trail winding through it. We'll have more volunteer work days coming up. If you'd like to help please email Sue Knaup at sue{at}onestreet.org.

 More to look forward to:

The Kids' Adventure Trail alignment will soon emerge, then its amenities along with benches and picnic tables throughout the park as additional funds come in (click rendering to left for more details): 

Thanks to our wonderful sponsors and donors, our Coalition raised enough funds to get us this far! We'll also need to raise more. Thanks to all who have already contributed! If you would like to contribute, please click Donate below the main menu above (note that it is for WGCP restoration).

We'll continue to post updates here. Sign up for our E-newsletter to receive the most in-depth info.

A Huge Thanks to Our Restoration Sponsors!:

Granite Orthopaedics www.GraniteOrtho.com      Restored Hope Hand Therapy www.RestoredHopeTherapy.co

Dunn's Tire & Automotive, EMI Printworks, Jonny’s Tree & Landscaping Co., Madshirtz, Nick's Feed Your Face, Powersports Outlet,           Soul Ride Bike Shop & Taproom, The Lookout

West Granite Creek Park still needs permanent protection

Unfortunately, on March 25, 2025 the City Council did not include nearly half of West Granite Creek Park (WGCP) in the open space charter amendment, passed by voters in August. This amendment is intended to permanently protect open space properties such as WGCP. The reason for the omission: because the Hilton Hotel building is encroaching on those two parcels (click graphic for details). This leaves this section of WGCP vulnerable to another parking lot or worse - sale or total development.

We are seeking other ways to permantly protect these two parcels. We may need your help. Please keep checking back here for the most up-to-date updates.

Our park and trail were nearly destroyed

NEW PARKING LOT THREAT LOOMS! (see top of page) The City’s plan, led by a former employee, to permanently pave West Granite Creek Park (WGCP) as a parking lot would have severed our Greenways Trail and destroyed our natural community park. Prior to October 2025, when our new, supportive City leaders blocked cars from parking there, cars speeding in and out of WGCP posed a serious danger to children, bicyclists, and pedestrians, even without paving. Click the handout for an overview of concerns, which we presented to Council on February 11, 2025. That day, all councilmembers chose to remove cars and restore our park and trail! We are so thankful. 

This once beautiful, natural flood plain riparian park, which is designated open space, was created by an impressive collaboration of nonprofits since the 1980s as part of Prescott’s car-free Greenways Trail system. WGCP was established as a riparian natural park and car-free Greenways Trail and is protected by Resolution No. 3274 of City Council in July 2000 as part of the West Granite Creek Park Master Plan. 

In fact, the car-free Greenways Trail through WGCP was the very first project of PAT back in 1997 when we identified this trail section as paramount to connecting the east and west sides of Prescott for bicyclists and pedestrians. We joined many volunteers to build it with donated materials (click slideshow for photos).

In 2021, the City removed its own barriers at the end of Granite Street to allow parking in WGCP. Representatives from PAT and other concerned nonprofits as well as residents of the nearby Dexter Neighborhood were told by this former City employee, repeatedly for three years, that this parking was temporary and the City would soon replace the barriers and restore the park and car-free Greenways Trail as it had been.

Instead, in 2023, without consulting those of us who care for and helped to create WGCP, this City employee paid for a design to permanently pave WGCP as a parking lot (find it linked below). This plan to turn our park into a permanent paved parking lot would have severed this section of our car-free Greenways Trail and destroyed this natural riparian habitat and community park.

With cars removed, and new supportive City staff and councilmembers helping, our park and Greenways Trail can be restored to their natural car-free splendor, with a beautiful new advenure trail leading to the Splash Pad. Our kids rely on us to create safe designs like this. And the black hawks, coopers hawks, and other rare birds and animals who live in WGCP rely on us to protect their habitat. Please connect with us and find out how you can help.

More Resources:

West Granite Creek Park Master Plan July 2000 - the most comprehensive document on protection of WGCP as a natural riparian park.

Prescott Council opts for restoring WGCP to natural state 2-11-25 - article about the critical Council decision to restore WGCP.

Prescott Woman article on WGCP restoration June/July 2025 - pages 52-53 article shows the love and dedication for WGCP by neighborhood families.

Prescott council greets park master plan 7-20-00 - article summarizing the City Council's support for the WGCP Master Plan. 

Park plans crystallize (start), Park plans crystallize (con't) 2-11-01 - article showing success of the WGCP park creation, plus APS cleanup

APS investment in WGCP - Newsletters: June 1999, January 2000, July 2000, Summer 2001 - details completion of cleanup and their investment in WGCP's car-free trails and riparian revegetation.

Tom Pettit WGCP entry dedication 3-1-12 - article about the renaming of this WGCP entry and trail connection from Montezuma St. 

West Granite Creek Parking Lot design - the City of Prescott's previous plan to permanently pave WGCP, from November 2023. Note the title of the document on the side of each page: "West Granite Creek Parking Lot"! 

Granite Creek Corridor Master Plan 2020 - page 37 describes the parking plan and mistakenly assumes that Prescott Farmers Market will be moving to WGCP.

City of Prescott budget FY24 - "West Granite Creek Park Improvements" page 238 - misleading description of the parking lot plan for $500,000: "Improvements to West Granite Creek Park including a large pavilion and grass gathering area." Thankfully this item was removed for fiscal years FY24 and FY25 for lack of funds. 

Hilton/City Development Agreement 1-31-19 - details the agreement between the City and the owner of the Hilton project; most of our concerns lie in the references to the "Park Area" that shows the entire WGCP area.

Our Coalition (so far): 

Community organizations: Dexter Neighborhood residents, Friends of Granite Creek Park, Green Mountain Center for Sustainability at Prescott College, Natural History Institute, Parents for a Car-free West Granite Creek Park, Prescott Alternative Transportation, Prescott Audubon Society, and Prescott Creeks.

Businesses pledged to contribute to restoration: Biel Foreign & Domestic Repairs, Chain Reaction Physical Therapy, Dunn's Tire & Automotive, EMI Printworks, Frontier Dog & Co, Granite Orthopaedics, High Gear Bike Shop, Ironclad Bicycles, Jonny’s Tree & Landscaping Co., Madshirtz, Nick's Feed Your Face, Powersports Outlet, R Blume Underground, Restored Hope Hand Therapy, Soul Ride Bike Shop & Taproom, and The Lookout. 

To add your organization or business, please email Sue Knaup at sue{at}onestreet.org

Letters of Support:

• Dexter Neighborhood - reactions to paving plan
• Friends of Granite Creek Park
• Green Mountain Center for Sustainability at Prescott College
• Natural History Institute
• Parents for a Car-free West Granite Creek Park - 74 parents signed on so far; (also a personal letter from one parent)
• Prescott Alternative Transportation
• Prescott Audubon Society
• Prescott Creeks