Phoenix approves new restrictions on medical care in parks, but allows time for rule changes

The Phoenix City Council on Wednesday voted to implement controversial new restrictions on providing medical care in public parks, but allowed time to make revisions to the ordinance based on community feedback.

The ordinance, as written, allows first responders to provide care during emergencies in city parks. It also allows for heat relief activities and distribution of the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone in parks.

But it prohibits any person, group or organization from sponsoring or advertising medical treatment events in parks unless it is authorized by the city. And it bars groups from using parks for needle exchange programs or for distribution of other materials meant to reduce harm from drug use.

Staff from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department said the regulations are necessary to cut down on incidents where syringes or other types of biohazards are left behind.

Councilwoman Betty Guardado said that has been a common safety concern that the council has heard from Phoenix residents.

“I myself have experienced that where my son picked up a needle and said, ‘Mommy, what is this?’ And he was only 3 years old at Maryvale Park,” Guardado said. “So I think there is a problem here.”

The council heard more than three hours of public comments on the issue. Most commenters opposed the ordinance, saying it would ban essential medical services for unhoused people, pushing them instead to emergency departments or leaving people in crisis without help.

Councilwoman Anna Hernandez also spoke against the plan.

“It is shameful that our answer for an overwhelming need for access to care is to lean towards criminalization and restrictions in our public parks,” Hernandez said.

Earlier in the same Wednesday meeting, the council had voted to adopt a ban on certain activities in parks, such as bathing in fountains or consuming liquor, which were already part of the parks’ code of conduct, but previously were not always enforceable by police as a city ordinance. Hernandez, along with many public commenters, had also characterized that earlier vote as an attempt to criminalize homelessness.

The council approved the ordinance to restrict medical care in parks in an 8-to-1 vote, with Hernandez as the lone “no.” But the council did approve a motion to allow a 90-day window for the city to work with stakeholder groups to propose revisions to the ordinance.

“There’s a lot of misinformation right now,” Mayor Kate Gallego said. “[The motion] directs staff to work with our valuable partners to address that, and if there’s a need to make changes, we are open to that. We want this to work.”