Queen Creek already has about twice as much parkland per person as the national median, and it would need roughly 1,083 more acres by 2040 to keep that pace, according to a draft of the town's new general plan that goes before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee on Tuesday.
The committee meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Classroom 1 of the Queen Creek Recreation and Aquatic Center, 22343 E. Ryan Road. A general plan update presentation is one of several items on its agenda.
The numbers in the draft
Slides in the agenda packet lay out how the draft plan answers the state's requirements for a parks, recreation and open space element:
- The town provides 20.4 acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents, compared with a national median of 10.6 acres used for comparison.
- About 1,083 more acres of park and recreation space would be needed by 2040 to hold the town's adopted level of service.
- The town counts two major wash corridors, the Queen Creek Wash and the Sonoqui Wash, with 7 miles of Queen Creek Wash Trail and 3.8 miles of Sonoqui Wash Trail.
- San Tan Mountain Regional Park, about 10,000 acres, sits next to the community, and the slides cite 750 miles of planned Maricopa Trail System connections.
Across the whole draft, parks, open space and trails are backed by 49 policy commitments: six goals, 25 strategies and 18 actions, according to the presentation.
What comes next
The general plan is the town's long-range policy guide for growth, roads, water, parks and other topics. Under the timeline in the packet, a 60-day public review of the draft begins Dec. 14, a third community workshop is planned for December, and commission hearings follow in spring 2027. The schedule ends with a vote by residents to ratify the plan in November 2027.
Residents can follow the update and take part in virtual activities at QueenCreekAZ.gov/PlanQC, the project page the town has pointed people to for workshop materials.
