City of Yuma Decides To Preserve Fortuna Dunes
After voicing concern, gathering signatures and communicating with the city, their area of off-road fun will remain
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) -The City of Yuma withdrew a request to the state Monday that would have allotted the city more than 1600 acres in what is state trust land. It would have been used for future development in the City's General Plan.
However, that area is widely used by off-road enthusiasts that live in the Yuma foothills and in the county.
"The right decision was to stop this process and work through the remaining issues to find a path forward for the greater Yuma community." - Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls
The land east of Fortuna Road in between Highway 95 and 24th Street is desert and filled with hills, optimal for anyone with a Razor, Dirt Bike, Quad.
After many got word of the city's plan, Gonzalo Zaragoza organized a group and gathered signatures against the idea of developing that area with infrastructure. He was able to gather more than 2,000 signatures online.
"We want to thank the city of Yuma. We appreciate you, we respect and love our government. If there is anything we can do in the future on their behalf to support them we are all in," Zaragoza said. "We do appreciate that they considered what we all thought about that desert and they decided to preserve it for us."
City Administrator Philip Rodriguez is glad to see the process work out like it's supposed too.
“As we saw, the public input process did exactly what it is designed to do, which is provide everyone an opportunity to be heard, and give staff a chance to work to resolve those issues raised from our valued businesses,” said City Administrator Philip Rodriguez. “With each conversation, we realized that more time was needed to address the concerns of our businesses, for the benefit of state land, our business partners and the Yuma community.”
