In a special meeting called on Monday, Oct. 26, the Springdale Town Council rejected a bid from the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah to make Springdale the starting city for the Tour of Utah in 2016 by a 3-2 vote. This was reversal of a vote on Oct. 8 which approved a “letter of interest” to the Tour of Utah by a 4-1 vote. Councilors Bill Weyher and Adrian Player changed their position in the latest vote.
A full house was on hand to hear the deliberations of the Council. Letters sent to the Council in advance of the meeting reflected a ratio of two to one against hosting the Tour of Utah. Most of the letters opposing the Tour were two and three pages long, while those favoring the tour were single page support messages. Springdale Mayor Stan Smith opened the meeting by noting that it was not a public hearing and that no public comments would be allowed.
Planning Director Tom Dansie started the discussion by saying that expenses of the Tour of Utah to the town would largely be covered by donors and that volunteers would provide most of the services required. Dansie said that he estimated approximately 15 to 20 minutes of road closure for the Tour and that the parking required by the Tour had been located off the main Zion Boulevard through Springdale.
Mayor Smith said that he had been contacted by Utah Congressman Chris Stewart’s office to reinforce Stewart’s support for the Tour of Utah. Stewart’s office said that they were also contacting sponsors to cover costs to Springdale and that the director of the National Park Service was in favor of the Tour and planned to feature the Tour through Zion National Park as part of the Park Service Centennial Celebration. In a previous Town Council meeting, Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said that he had approved the Tour through Zion National Park. Smith said that Stewart would use his position on the House Appropriations Committee to push for federal funding to solve Springdale’s infrastructure problems.
We will host the Tour of Utah, but when we have an infrastructure in place and [Washington County, Utah, and the federal government] help us get there.
Mark Chambers
Some Town Council members expressed concerns that the problems that Springdale would see as a result of an event as large as the Tour of Utah would be worse than the report from Dansie predicted.
“I think some of this stuff on the list [of Tour requirements] is naïve and unrealistic,” councilor Bill Weyher said “There’s a whole shopping list of things they expect the town to do which I think we’re ignoring.”
Councilor Mark Chambers thought that Springdale wasn’t prepared to host the event and recited a list of improvements needed.
“If we say, ‘Everybody come on in. Bring your bicycles.’ … It’s a concern when people come with bikes in this town,” Chambers said. “We are not prepared for it. … We will host the Tour of Utah, but when we have an infrastructure in place and [Washington County, Utah, and the federal government] help us get there.”
The discussion shifted when councilor Adrian Player said that the letter supporting the Tour—signed by all six Utah congressmen—had placed tremendous pressure on Superintendent Bradybaugh to approve the Tour of Utah. Player also noted that the letter was dated in March while Springdale had only been consulted until September. He said he didn’t like the feeling that he had to succumb to pressure at the last minute. Chambers agreed.
“If they wanted to work with the town and have it here, they should have been dialoguing with us earlier,” he said.
At the end of the discussion, Smith called for a vote. Chambers made a motion to “deny the Tour of Utah for the 2016 date.” Weyher, Chambers, and Player voted in favor, and Smith and Alltucker voted against. Chambers and Alltucker are both candidates for the next Springdale Town Council. The opinion of Lisa Zumpft, another candidate for a position on the Council, was represented by one of the letters opposing participation.
Kevin Lewis, the Director of Washington County Sports and Outdoor Recreation, was in the audience listening to the meeting. Lewis said he understood the concerns of Springdale but that opportunities like this one were few and far between. He said that the National Park Centennial was a time to celebrate the parks and this was a way to do that.
Lewis said that the problem of enough infrastructure was “a chicken and the egg” thing.
“Bringing attention to the area … may be beneficial,” Lewis said, “and there may be more benefit to hosting something like to bring that attention to the need here and then building on that.”
Lewis continued to say that he was sure there would be more discussion about Springdale. When asked if he thought the proposal to host the Tour of Utah might come back to Springdale this year in a revised form, he guessed that it might.
“They’ve got a good feeling that this is what they’d like to see happen, and I think they’ll do what they can to make it happen – if it’s possible.”
Craig Shanklin, the president of the Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance, had listened to the meeting as well and said he was disappointed in the outcome of the meeting.
“A world class event like this would have been a terrific opportunity to get people thinking about, ‘How do I bring the bicycle into my life?’” he said.
Shanklin said he thought the decision was a missed opportunity for the citizens of Springdale and Washington County and that he thought that the Springdale decision was so definitive that it was a closed issue now.
“If they wanted to work with the town and have it here, they should have been dialoguing with us earlier,” he said. – Does anyone other than me see irony in this? WC commissioners and city leaders are complaining that the BLM did not “have dialog with them earlier” about the BLM’s RMP currently out for public comment. Now, Springdale has been dismissed by Congressional leaders who support and are putting pressure on them. Good for Springdale’s leaders for rejecting this. Event proponents who assert it would “bring attention to Springdale” must be kidding! We can’t keep people out of Springdale. They don’t need anything to get people in. Really!
Springdale is, of course, free to do as it pleases. There are plenty of places who would be honored and will welcome the Tour with open arms. Good luck to the town and people of Springdale.