10/13/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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was not the place because of it~ already heavy use. Rather, he thought a'separate facility should be planned for the handicapped_ Speaking per- sonally, . he. said, he noted when Jefferson Poo'l was covered the voters were told it was necessary to provide-a site for the Churchill swimming team, so he didn't . see why the Churchill area needed a swimming pool. I-A-5 Ms. Ramp commended the south hills study group for planning development of some park areas now, holding others for the future. I-B-] Sol Cuddeback, 202i Jefferson Street, concurred with t.he idea of developing exist- ing park areas. He said that before action was taken to acquire the south hills areas a thorough look should be given to the amount of land involved and how much it could be used for kids. He asked what uses were proposed for the areas. He favored expanding present parks and possible addition of more but asked recogni- tion of the fact that money was needed to operate them effectively. He thought $4.5 million for south hills acquisition was not enough, that purchase would amount perhaps to twice that amount, especially if funded through a serial levy. He also thought that the voters should have the opportuijity to decide on that issue separately from development and acquisition in other parts of the community. Mr. Cuddeback noted the large open spaces already in public ownership in Baker Park and at Mt. Pisgah, and added that with building regulations now in effect development of the south hills would not detract from the visual beauty. He also noted the decrease in the city's tax bas which would result from removal of that amount of land from private ownership. And he said there was a "heritage" in being able to spread development rather than crowding into "compact growth." Others speaking against the proposal were Tom Woolley, 2245 Orr Lane, and Randall Cuddeback, 2205 Lorane Highway. Mr. Woolley didn't think it proper to spend money on "beautifying" the city when it was short on police and fire personnel. He e thought a park as proposed in the south hills ridiculous, noting even more money would have to be budgeted for its maintenance. Randall Cuddeback said acquisition and development of park areas in the south hills would force more development in the core area. At the same time the proposal called for more acquisition of open space and park development in the core area, an obvious conflict. He suggested more thought be given to acquisition of open areas in the core area where open space was rapidly being filled in. He suggested separation of the south hills acquisition and development of existing park areas for purposes of voting. Tom Slocum, 2125 Fairmount Boulevard, expressed concern over the whole program. He noted that the Council at the time of adopting the south hills study make it clear that the city would purchase the land there if it was wanted for park pur- poses and would not hold up development if city acquisition was not possible. He said there were about 1000 acres involved and he doubted that $4.5 million would be sufficient to purchase it. He said effects of the study should be noted, limitations on development had forced land prices up considerably over the last two years. He hoped the issues would be separated when presented to the voters and that thought would be given to loss of tax base if the land went into public ownership. Public hea~ing was closed, there being no further testimony presented. Councilman Murray, in response to c:omments made, said he would recommend that Peterson Park be designated the primary park for development in the Bethel area, Bethel Park to be given second pridrity should there be additional money available. . With regard to the Willakenzie are~, he called attention to Alton Baker Park al- ready established in that area, even though it is not a city park, and the ac- quisition of 31 acres in that part of the community since passage of the 1972 parks bond measure. He also noted that the present proposal included acquisition of Delta gravel pond areas. Mr. Murray referred to the question of separating the 53/ 10/13/75 - 3