Banned by city officials, Christmas tree goes up again on Phoenix mountain
Dec 5, 2017, 12:21 PM | Updated: 12:28 pm
(Instagram Photo/@iadventureseek)
(Instagram Photo/@iadventureseek)
PHOENIX — A Christmas tree that has been declared “litter,” unsafe and been banned by city parks officials has still been placed atop a Phoenix park mountain.
The Camelback Christmas tree has been up for a few days, despite the Parks and Recreation Board’s disapproval.
The department asked that the yearly ritual of hikers hauling up a tree and decorating it on Camelback Mountain’s summit come to an end because broken decorations posed a hazard and were considered trash.
Last year, park rangers brought the tree down in early December.
But an online petition collected over 1,000 signatures in support of the Camelback Christmas tree and the department relented. Another tree went up.
The department then laid out a wish list of behavior for anyone who wanted to climb the mountain to see the tree.
Over the summer, Camelback Santa attended a public meeting on the tree’s fate and offered to make a number of changes he hoped would sway the board.
The board ended up not making any decision at an August meeting.
