The Oro Valley Town Council has adopted a leisure travel plan aimed at drawing visitors and boosting revenue, but stripped out several of its most ambitious proposals before signing off.

The council voted 6-1 to adopt the plan at its May 20 meeting, removing several major projects that will be considered on an individual basis at a later date.

Adopting the plan does not commit the town to any individual project or expenditure; each will require separate council approval. Councilmember Josh Nicholson cast the lone dissenting vote.

Community and Economic Development Director Paul Melcher said the town would formulate an annual work plan based on current staff capacity and resources, subject to council approval each year.

"There's also built-in scalability," Melcher said. "Sometimes, if you can attract one visitor, with additional effort, you might attract 100, 1,000, and so on."

With a three-person staff, Melcher said the town should be mindful of its capacity, including the number of available hotel rooms, while staying opportunistic and ready to adapt as circumstances change.

Melcher outlined several staff recommendations in order of priority, along with each one's projected first-year economic impact.

• Developing a regional events and festival strategy to combat seasonality, estimated to draw 6,000 visitors from Tucson and Phoenix and generate nearly $330,000 in revenue.
• Increasing sports tourism and advocating for additional sports venues, estimated to generate more than $525,000 in revenue.
• Activating Steam Pump Ranch as a cultural and culinary event venue, estimated to generate more than $150,000 in revenue.
• Developing a local culinary tourism strategy and dining plan, estimated to generate more than $410,000 in revenue.
• Addressing summer seasonality with shaded, indoor and evening visitor experiences, estimated to generate more than $300,000 in revenue.
• Encouraging intergenerational tourism programming for youths and seniors, estimated to generate more than $395,000 in revenue.
• Revitalizing the Oro Valley Community Center with tourism-serving amenities, with economic impact not yet determined.
• Expanding hotel and lodging options with new boutique, eco-luxury and wellness-focused hotels, estimated to generate more than $80,000 in revenue.

All recommendations would take two to four years to implement. Melcher's plan calls for focusing on Steam Pump Ranch and building tourism governance capacity in the first year, with other programs and "early wins" developing in years two and three.

Mayor Joe Winfield proposed adopting the plan without its fifth section, titled "Big Ideas and Action Plans," which outlined several major projects including a performing arts venue, a state-of-the-art recreation center, a resident-designed festival, a public market hall at Steam Pump Ranch and the expansion of Tohono Chul.

Winfield moved to remove all of those projects except the expansion of Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Galleries and Bistro, which would support the growth of the facility's programming with a focus on cultural tourism and environmental education.

"My motion expresses support for the core purpose and direction of the Leisure Travel Destination Management Plan, particularly the recommendations focused on enhancing resident quality of life, improving existing amenities, strengthening Oro Valley's identity and supporting thoughtful community-centered tourism," he said.

Winfield said the plan contains practical and achievable strategies worth discussing, but that he was uncomfortable approving the big ideas section.

"While I appreciate the creativity and vision behind those concepts, I believe the process used to prioritize and elevate those ideas was flawed and did not provide sufficient council direction or community consensus regarding long-term priorities," Winfield said. "I do not want the overall improvement of the plan to be seen as endorsement of specific large-scale projects, future financial commitments or funding mechanisms that the council has not fully evaluated."

Winfield expressed concern about some of the implementation concepts and funding approaches given the town's existing financial commitments and competing infrastructure priorities. Removing the projects, he said, would allow the council to evaluate them separately through a more public community process.

The plan will go into effect July 1.

Ian Stash is University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at ianjgs16@gmail.com.

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