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Parks, meals and money Mail Tribune / Jim Craven From left, Matt Shore, Eric Cagle and Jay Hammond shoot some hoops at Railroad Park in Ashland. The city has nearly tripled its stock of parks since enacting a meal tax in 1993 to buy new land for parks and open space. If Ashland residents want more parks, the city will have to figure out how to pay the bill By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Nathan Kimbrough enjoys the basketball court at Railroad Park, but says the city could use more space for the pickup games he plays with friends. Sisters Barbara Hansen and Mary Beth Lee like to hike from the top of Park Street into Siskiyou Mountain Park. They worry about access to trails around town disappearing. Open space called important for kids, adults Open space is crucial for the development of children and young people, according to Southern Oregon University psychology Professor Karen Salley. It's also important for older folks. "A lot of research shows that people learn self-reliance, self-confidence and competence when they are exploring their natural environments," said Salley, who studies relationships between humans and their environments. She would like to see children have easily accessible natural areas or spaces that are not lighted or manicured. "Other research shows that adults need places like this to escape the stresses and relieve the tensions they find," said Salley. The more urban or developed a town becomes, the greater the need for solitude and getting away from feeling crowded. "I think Ashland is growing enough, with driving and waiting in lines, that we are fast moving into that area of living our lives more like suburbanites," said Salley. Studies show that stressed people in urban environments should have parks within three or four blocks of where they live. Views are also important, says Salley. "People speak almost spiritually about the need for natural beauty surrounding them." Aaron Kreutzer likes living close to Railroad Park, where he can take his two young daughters and still be within range on his cordless home phone. He thinks neighborhood parks are great. These Ashland residents and others benefit from the city's Open Space Plan, which has nearly tripled parks acreage since it was funded by a 1993 voter-approved tax on restaurant meals. But future land acquisitions may be few. Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Rick Landt said residents still say they want more land for parks. "On the other hand, the meals tax ... is set to expire in 2010. And most of the money that will be generated by this tax until then is committed to financing previous land purchases." The commission launched a series of meetings on Nov. 7 to find out if residents want more parks and open space, what they want and how to finance it. Another meeting is set for Monday at Ashland Middle School starting at 7 p.m. The key issues include Ashland's ever-escalating land prices, a lack of neighborhood parks in some areas, higher costs for the city as new parks are added, access to trails and a need for more room for sports. Support is strong Statistics support anecdotal comments from residents who use the city's new parks. A 1996 phone survey of 400 Ashland residents found that Lithia Park had been visited by 92 percent of the respondents during a one-year period. Scenic areas had been visited by 87 percent, while 66 percent had used neighborhood parks. Sports park use ranged from 38 percent at the Garfield Park water play area to 15 percent on volleyball courts. Ashland voters approved the Open Space and Parks Plan in 1990. A 1989 study showed Ashland had fewer acres of parks per person than most other comparably sized cities in Oregon. Park land purchases stagnated after Lithia Park was created in the early 1900s. Voters OK'd the current meal tax in 1993 after two failed attempts. It withstood a repeal effort later that year. One-fifth of the 5 percent tax goes to open space and parks. Since 1992, the city has gone from a little more than 200 acres to 560 acres of parks and open space. Purchases have ranged from the 110 acres for Siskiyou Mountain Park to a quarter-acre at East Main and Wightman streets. About 331 acres that were identified in the original plan and remain undeveloped have not been purchased. Land prices have varied from about $1,000 to about $300,000 per acre - 110 acres of Siskiyou Mountain Park cost $125,000 while $603,967 was spent for a two-acre neighborhood park at Scenic and North Main streets. The latest acquisition was the Vogel property, seven acres along Ashland Creek between Hersey and Nevada streets. It cost $650,000 and was sold with a restriction that would return it to the previous owners if the city doesn't maintain it as open space. The parks portion of the tax revenue is dedicated solely to land purchases. Money for improvements and maintenance comes from the parks and recreation department's budget. Short on space As interest in recreational sports grows, fields fill quickly and have to be rationed out. Options for park purchases Ashland residents have several options if they want to finish buying park land already in the city's Open Space Plan or purchase other property. Advocates of expanding the parks system suggest that the meals tax levy could be put to a vote for extension before its 2010 expiration. Four cents of each nickel now collected goes to update Ashland's wastewater treatment plant. Debt from that project will remain after 2010, but user fees are expected to finance the remainder. Those favoring an early vote note it would allow Ashland to purchase land over time while prices are lower. Some suggest the entire tax could be spent for open space after 2010. New land also could be bought using money from the city's general fund, which is funded by property taxes. "I constantly have people asking for space that I can't provide," says Ashland Middle School Principal Dale Rooklyn. He schedules events at the city's North Mountain Park as well as on school district fields. Lights added this fall helped stretch out the time available at North Mountain, but there is still a large need, says Rooklyn. Parks and Recreation Department superintendent Ken Mickelsen sees a need for two more sports parks. Sites are identified in the Open Space Plan - one is across Mountain Avenue from the current site. The other is next to the YMCA. Public access; private property Trail access, another issue brought up at the November meeting, is troublesome. Private property owners have closed access to portions of the TID trail and other trails that lead to Siskiyou Mountain Park. And some trails proposed in an early version of the Open Space Plan were dropped before the 1990 election because they became controversial, mostly to landowners who don't want hikers on their land. "A decision was made (to drop some trails) in order to move forward with ... the plan to acquire parks and open space," says Mickelsen, adding that controversy over trails might have derailed the plans. Planning department director John McLaughlin said buying land for trails hasn't been a priority for Ashland. But Ashland has managed to acquire some easements. The November meeting sparked renewed interest by some landowners to grant easements, says McLaughlin. The city usually tries to work out easements without compensation, although an easement can shift liability from the landowner to the city. One trail group hopes to help the city acquire land for trails and deal with related issues. "What we are looking to do is to raise funds privately to then buy more open space," says Robert McLellan of the Ashland Woodlands and Trails Association. The group wants to start by mapping trails in Ashland with the help of the National Park Service. "There's a lot of deer trails and things all over the place," says McLellan. "How do we pull that together and keep everyone happy? You want to make sure that the landowner and the trail hikers are both helped." A short walk Another Open Space Plan goal is to have a neighborhood park no more than a quarter-mile from every city resident. There's progress because other types of parks and school grounds are counted in the neighborhood park category. Landt named the area around Clay Street and Siskiyou Boulevard, which includes the Ashland Apartments, as one area without a neighborhood park. "Everywhere we've identified these (parks and open space) sites we've contacted the property owners," says Mickelsen. But not all have wanted to sell. When property owners do decide to sell, the city may need to compete against developers. That happened recently when the city acquired the Scenic and North Main site. The Perrozzi property south of Southern Oregon University was also on the park's acquisition list. But the university sold it to developers for $890,000 rather than to the city for its $300,000 offer. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.