Residents reveal ideas for future of Goodyear Ballpark area
Goodyear city officials recently bought more land around Goodyear Ballpark, and now they're taking input from residents about what should be done with the space.
Christopher Baker, Goodyear's development services director, said at an open house last month that the city originally acquired the land around 2007.
The city initially planned to build developments, such as hotels, office buildings and housing, around the ballpark. But after the Great Recession hit, some of that work was put on hold. The ballpark, however, did get constructed, and there is currently 9,300 square feet of unused retail space in the area.
The city purchased the remainder of the land from private developers and owns all of the property immediately adjacent to the area surrounding the ballpark, Baker said.
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Baker added there is a demand for entertainment venues and more sit-down restaurants.
Three different plans were presented at the open house. They all consisted of different configurations of amenities such as single-family homes, multi-family homes, parks, restaurants and retail space.
Ballpark Village could be capable of supporting 37,000 to 75,000 square feet of retail space by 2030, Baker said. In addition, there is a shortage of 9,300 dwellings, emphasizing a need for both retail space and housing developments. Parking to support these amenities, as well as the additional 150,000 people who come to the ballpark during spring training each year, will also be necessary, Baker said.
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Terranique Nuness has lived in Goodyear since 2003. She remembers the city going from having four-way stops, to having traffic lights and gas stations. Nuness lives near the ballpark and struggles when getting caught in traffic during games.
In looking at the different plans, Nuness said she would prefer one of the plans where parking would be on the perimeter of the area to create less traffic. She was also concerned about the potential traffic that could be caused by drive-through restaurants, although none were mentioned at the open house.
Nuness would also like to see more nightlife venues in Goodyear. But instead of just bars, she said she wants to see a bowling alley or a roller rink.
"Not really drinking or anything like that but just something to do," Nuness said, of her entertainment ideas for Goodyear.
Baker said it's also important for the city to figure out how to balance open space with retail space. While there is a demand for retail space and entertainment venues, people also would like to see open space in the city.
Saundra Hayes, a Goodyear resident for 21 years, hopes to see outdoor space with everything else. She lives in the Estrella Mountain Ranch area but likes to come to city meetings to see what is going on and to offer her input.
"It's been long overdue. We've been waiting a long time to have stuff like this in the West," Hayes said.
She said she hopes to see restaurants that aren't common in Arizona, rather than the area's typical chain restaurants. She also wants to see new nightspots for teenagers and people in their 20s, as well as venues for concerts and plays.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Residents reveal ideas for future of Goodyear Ballpark area
