The Town of Camp Verde is seeking input from property owners along the Verde River to develop a recreational master plan along the waterway.
The town has been working to contact property owners to complete a survey.
“We’ve sent out letters to around 150 property owners right along the Verde River,” said Steve Ayers, Camp Verde economic development director.
Ayers said that the town has also been holding neighborhood meetings so property owners can share their ideas and concerns face-to-face.
The survey asks property owners what they value most about the Verde River, from natural beauty and wildlife habitat to boating opportunities and water supply for irrigation.
Property owners are also asked about what impacts they’ve observed from recreational activities, including trash dumping and trespassing.
Finally, the survey contains several open-ended questions allowing property owners to give their opinions on recreation and the planning process as a whole.
“We’re pretty much getting the same message from everyone,” Ayers said. “Illegal fires, guns being fired off, ATV riders, it’s basically just disrespecting private property.”
Ayers said that he wants property owners to understand that the town is in no way trying to currently develop additional recreation activities along the river.
“We’ve already got recreation opportunities,” Ayers said. “We want to look at mitigation to address these issues. It takes education, enforcement and engineering.”
That could include closing areas off to keep people out of some private areas and applying for grants to put up signs warning people about what is and isn’t legal on a particular piece of property.
“Maybe one day we’ll get to a point where we could talk about other recreation options but not right now,” Ayers said.
It could also involve making some areas set aside for day use only.
Ayers said the town didn’t want to see what’s happened at Fossil Creek, where massive numbers of visitors have damaged the landscape and left trash and other sorts of pollution behind.
“That happened because they didn’t really have a plan,” Ayers said. “It’s happening here already, it’s just spread out.”
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Aug. 5, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
