Title
Shade Phoenix Plan Progress Report for Fiscal Year 2024-25 - Citywide
Description
This report presents to the Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee the first annual progress report on citywide tree and shade initiatives following the November 2024 adoption of the Shade Phoenix Plan.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Shade Phoenix Plan
Phoenix City Council unanimously adopted the Shade Phoenix Plan in November 2024. The plan provides policy direction regarding the addition and maintenance of natural and built shade to protect public health, improve quality of life, and create community resilience. It presents a vision of a future where all community members experience the benefits of trees and built shade throughout the City, and contains 36 actions addressing four broad strategies:
Expand Shade, increasing shade for people where they need it most.
Preserve and Maintain Existing Shade, ensuring that the community is working together to support a thriving urban forest and well-maintained built shade.
Evaluate and Institutionalize the ongoing implementation and improvement of shade efforts to scale their impacts and maximize benefits.
Educate and Empower, so that all Phoenicians understand the importance and value of trees and shade and how they can support them.
The 36 actions in the Shade Phoenix Plan represent an estimated $60 million in allocated and planned funding from local, federal, and private sources to be invested over the period 2024-2029. Guided by the plan's core values to target actions where shade can have the greatest impact on human health, and to address inequities in tree and shade resources, more than 85 percent of the funding was to be directed to low-, moderate-, and middle-income communities.
Overview of Progress
Progress was achieved on all 36 actions in the Shade Phoenix Plan over the period July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. Of the 36 actions, staff determined that 31 (86 percent) had fully met or exceeded their Year 1 milestone. The remaining five actions are still in progress. No actions were identified to be facing obstacles impacting their full and successful implementation. The complete Shade Phoenix Year 1 progress report is included as Attachment A.
Shade Phoenix actions completed over the past year led to meaningful changes that impact residents' safety, comfort, and quality of life. Across all departments, City investments enabled more than 7,200 trees to be planted with a net addition of more than 5,500 trees to Phoenix's urban canopy. Additionally, 155 new shade structures were installed benefiting pedestrians, public transit users, park visitors, and local youth. More than 130 City staff members participated in at least one relevant training opportunity, strengthening the City's workforce and its capacity to deliver and maintain shade for residents. The total first year investment for Shade Phoenix actions is estimated to be $16 million, including planting and installation, maintenance costs, supplies, and human resources.
Next Fiscal Year Priorities
An immediate priority for the next year is to ensure that the five actions that did not fully meet their reporting milestone are accelerated to be on track. Factors contributing to slower progress than anticipated for these actions include limitations on staff capacity and delays in hiring timelines and contracting. The five actions identified to be not fully on track are: developing consistent tree and shade maintenance protocol to be used by City departments, creating a pilot program to enhance enforcement of the City's tree code, completing a comprehensive inventory of municipal tree and shade assets, completing stakeholder engagement to inform a pilot public shade fund, and launching a new Tree Steward program.
Additionally, staff will be placing special emphasis on all actions that pertain to tree and shade management and maintenance practices. As the pace of tree planting and shade structure installation accelerates, it is imperative to ensure that management and maintenance practices are optimized to maximize the return on investments in new assets. City departments have made positive strides in recent years to shorten maintenance intervals, improve contractor accountability, and increase staff capacity, but staff and residents continue to seek better overall outcomes. Completion of the City's new tree inventory, anticipated in 2026, will be particularly instructive for staff to understand successes and deficiencies in current maintenance practices. Recent storms reveal challenges with maintenance that need to be addressed in future years. Factors that compromise trees' ability to withstand storms and other environmental stressors include poor site and species selection, inappropriate planting and pruning technique, and mismanaged watering schedules.
Upcoming Events and Milestones
The public is invited and encouraged to engage with a variety of Shade Phoenix Plan actions in Fall 2025 and beyond. Notable events upcoming this season include:
The Sombra! Celebration of Shade, a free, family-friendly event to be held September 20 at Memorial Hall at Steele Indian School Park.
Neighborhood tree planting celebrations to be held throughout Phoenix as part of the Community Canopy Program beginning in early October.
Installation of shade structures created through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded Sidewalk Shade Program, anticipated to begin in late 2025.
More information about Phoenix's upcoming tree and shade programs, and opportunities to apply for grants and other initiatives, is available at phoenix.gov/shade.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation.