Minutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/10/2008

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Chairperson Johns advised that he would not have to stay out the discussion, as they might benefit from his input. She questioned if the decision tonight was to decide whether or not to do cash or land dedication and whether they should base it on only the five acres currently being developed. Leon Fisher advised that there is a total of 30 acres and that now would be the time to make the decision. He advised that the City does currently use the parcel for parking during certain events. Chairperson Johns advised that it was a valid point and that down the road the Commission would like to do a reconstruction of Central Park. She thought that there could be something done down the road with the church whether it was shared roads or something else. Leon Fisher advised that once they pay all the fees for park and trail dedication they are done working with the City. He thought that was something that the Commission should think about when making their decision. Civil Engineer Linton stated that he had sat in on several meetings with representatives from the church and it was always different people attending for the church. He explained that at the first meeting the church rolled out a plan for development of all 30 acres which showed where the church would be and also ten acres on the west side that would be slotted for future townhouse development. He advised that might have been a misunderstanding on his part but explained that it showed an interest in preserving all of their land and cash dedication would be the only option for that. He reported that with plotting 25 acres for development of the church the total amount of fees would be about $500,000 and explained that everything is based on a per acre fee. He stated that in the past with other churches or schools they have compromised and taken five acres of land and stated that they are basically doing that now with just looking at five acres for development at this point. He reiterated that based on the input that staff has gotten from the church, they are looking to develop the whole site and then using the townhouses as cash flow. Leon Fisher advised that part of the issue in the beginning was that they did not own the parcel slated for townhouse development and they now do. Chairperson Johns clarified that the church does now own the full 30 acres. Commissioner Backous explained that the original donation to the church was not for the full 30 acres but was for 25 acres. He advised that was changed and the whole 30 acres was donated to the church. . Commissioner Shryock questioned if the Commission could only review the five acres being developed right now when thinking of land versus cash dedication or whether they could look at the whole 30 acres. Civil Engineer Linton advised that they would only be able to look at five acres. Park and Recreation Commission/ April 1 0, 2008 Page 11 of 18