Phoenix's plan to begin charging a fee to park at key entrances to mountain preserves has struck a nerve with trail users ranging from the Mountain Pointe High School cross country coach to a registered nurse who hikes to keep her weight and blood pressure down.

Protest photos | City settles on $2 fee

"Two dollars to park here. I heard about it yesterday," griped Phoenix resident Donna Jones, a Maricopa Medical Center registered nurse who hikes the Pima Canyon trail of South Mountain Park three times a week to maintain her health.

"What are they going to provide for that $2? More services? My car was already broken into at the park."

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who appears to be the city's No. 1 opponent of the parking fee, was at the Pima Canyon entrance to the park before 8 a.m. Saturday.

He passed out fliers urging park users to "fight new park fees" and answered questions from hikers, runners and mountain bikers.

Many asked DiCiccio whether Phoenix would spend the revenue from the parking fee directly on improvements to parks.

Not necessarily, DiCiccio said. The $500,000 the city expects to generate with the new Phoenix Mountain Pass - which will cost $2 a day or $50 for a six-month pass - will go into the city's general fund to cover the cost of basic city operations. City departments have been asked to find new ways to generate revenue because of the economic downturn.

Phoenix Parks and Recreation Director Dale Larsen said Friday that he has recommended that any money generated in excess of the $500,000 be used to make improvements to park facilities, staffing and hours.

How the city will enforce the fees has not been determined and enforcement will not go into effect until early 2011, Larsen said.

The mountain pass program is expected to require vehicles parked at the Pima Canyon area of South Mountain Park, the Echo Canyon area of Camelback Mountain, Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area, the Dreamy Draw Recreation Area and North Mountain Park to display the passes starting at the end of August.

The $2 cost might not sound like a big deal, but when one crunches the cost for an entire sports team that trains at a preserve, the numbers get high quickly.

Heather Kiser, a teacher and the cross country coach at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee, said members of her team train at Pima Canyon at least once a week - sometimes often more.

"Lots of college teams are out here training too," she said.

DiCiccio said the hardship the fee could create for athletic teams is just one of many unintended consequences of the mountain pass program, which was approved by the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board earlier this month. He said he also anticipates complaints from neighborhoods where some preserve users will begin to park to avoid buying mountain passes.

The decision was made "very little public input," DiCiccio said. "There was very little thought put into how the program would work."

On Thursday DiCiccio sent letters to parks board members asking them to rescind their decision. In addition to being confusing and difficult to enforce, the mountain pass program would put an unfair burden on families who use the preserves as an inexpensive form of recreation, he said.

"We all recognize how much families and businesses are struggling with the current economy," DiCiccio wrote. "Those in the private sector have taken 10 to 25 percent compensation cuts . . . Many have lost their jobs, their homes and their businesses. Meanwhile, the city of Phoenix has dumped $100 million in new taxes and fees on them in the past nine months - while refusing to address its own unsustainable and exorbitant labor costs."

DiCiccio's office has received about 100 calls and e-mails about the fee. The majority have been negative, staff members said.

Larsen said the parks department has received about a dozen calls raising concerns about the fees.

But some callers and preserve users said they would willingly pay a parking fee - if there is a chance some of the money would go toward park improvements.

"Bring it on. It's a great idea," said Earl Thornton, a Queen Creek music teacher, who sat observing a Pima Canyon drinking fountain that had been taken over by bees Saturday morning. Thornton, a mountain biker, said he already pays an annual fee to use Maricopa County parks and does not think buying a $50 six-mouth pass from Phoenix would be hardship.

"I want the parking pass," said Tempe resident Tom Cavaretta, a volunteer park steward at Pima Canyon.

"They have cut 10 rangers out here. There is not enough staff. Sometimes I am the only one here to help if someone gets hurt. The city needs more money for the parks."

But such opinions were in the minority at Pima Canyon Saturday morning.

"I think it's ridiculous. I'm not going to pay it," said Ahwatukee resident Andy Cary, an Ahwatukee resident who runs at Pima Canyon three days a week.

"We already pay taxes. Now they are going to charge me to park in an area that I am already paying taxes for. I'll just park somewhere else."