City of Tucson hosting community meetings to discuss food distribution in city parks

The city of Tucson is hosting a moderated forum for the public to discuss the distribution of food in local parks.

According to the current regulations,
anyone wishing to distribute food in or near a city park must
obtain a permit from the Pima County Health Department or else face a
potential citation, in order to avoid “overburdening specific parks,” the city said.

Last
November, Councilmembers Karin Uhlich and Lane Santa Cruz called on the
city to reconsider its permit policy, citing concerns from aid workers
and Good Samaritans distributing food to the unhoused population in many
city parks.

The public forums, moderated by the Center for
Community Mediation and Facilitation, a nonprofit mediation service, are
the next step in the process of revisiting the permit policy.

“The
desire is really to get a broad set of stakeholders around the table to
discuss the pressures that are being felt in the community and
concerns, as well as how we are assessing the needs of folks who don’t
have houses and homes,” Uhlich told the Sentinel in November.

Permits
are free to obtain and valid for 10 days, but recipients must first
complete a training program through the Health Department on food safety
and clean-up expectations in order to be issued one.

Under
current rules, only certain parks are eligible. If the park is within
one mile of a city-designated “hot spot” for homeless activity, it will
be eligible for permits. If there is a congregate meal program like a
soup kitchen or community center already within 1.5 miles of the park,
the permit may be denied.

Santa Rita Park, which has a high
unhoused population, is not eligible
for a permit due to its proximity to Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, Parks and
Recreation Director Lara Hamwey said at a November city council meeting.

Currently permits are only available for the following parks, according to the city:

• Mission Manor, seven days a week, morning and evening
• Mansfield Park, weekdays, mornings only
• Todd Harris Sportsplex, weekdays, mornings only
• Reid Park, seven days a week, morning and evening

The
city is holding two “community conversations” on the issue, one on
Wednesday, March 5 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. via Zoom, and another on
Saturday, March 8 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Donna Liggins Center, 2160
N. 6th Ave. RSVP is required for the online meeting and encouraged for the in-person meeting, where drop-ins are welcome.