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City land acquisition subject to new policy
(by Sue Reid - February 01, 2012)
City land acquisition subject to new policy
By SUE REID
The Solon planning commission tabled a policy for open-space acquisition last week in order for amendments to be prepared by the city's planning director. The policy, which would serve as a guide for public-land purchases, is to go before City Council, possibly by March.
Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said it's important to have a policy in place that focuses on decisions for acquiring open space over time. "The acquisition and preservation of open space has become an issue of increasing importance to the city of Solon as it has developed and matured," he said.
City Council often receives requests to consider the purchase of land in order to prevent imminent development, Mr. Frankland said. "Quite often, acquisition of the land in question would serve no legitimate public purpose and instead would tend to divert limited government resources away from more important projects and uses."
Without any policy in place, "council is forced to debate this issue anew every time it arises," he said.
"As the effective preservation of open space typically required the expenditure of limited public funds, the city further recognizes that it must pursue a coordinated and consistent policy over time if it is to maximize the effectiveness of its open-space-preservation efforts."
Mr. Frankland provided the commission with policy statements, or criteria. They include the consideration of acquiring open space in order to: remove "high-impact" residential parcels from potential development; preserve or buffer ecologically significant areas; expand and extend existing greenway corridors; establish or expand city parks in accordance with pre-existing plans; purchase and preserve open space where city contributions of 25 percent or less are required.
A sixth criteria discussed by the commission would be to acquire open space for the purpose of implementing storm-water-mitigation plans, "which is a rational focus policy for green-space acquisition," Mr. Frankland said. "It's one of the more common types of green space the city does purchase."
That was the case after the storm of 2006, when more than 1,000 homes in Solon experienced flooding, he said. The goal of those recent purchases was to advance storm-water mitigation, he said.
Commission member Roger C. Newberry encouraged Mr. Frankland to think of what properties the city should acquire for storm-water management.
Mr. Frankland noted that the policy would be discretionary. "Just because we have a policy that says we will consider the purchase of properties that have large subdivisions on them doesn't mean we're going to purchase them," he said.
"It's purely discretionary, because it's simply part of larger land-use goals identified in the master plan."
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