Grand Junction City Councilman wants to develop more parks

By Emily Anderson
Grand Junction, CO Colorado
May 9, 2008

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    GRAND JUNCTION — More than half of Grand Junction city park land is undeveloped.

    Grand Junction Mayor Gregg Palmer wants to change that.

    Undeveloped Saccomanno, Burkey, Matchett, Las Colonias, Horizon and Burkey-Orchard Mesa parks take up 386 acres of the city’s 673.9 acres of park space.

    Palmer would like to see the first four of those parks developed with one funding source within the next three to four decades if he can convince his fellow city council members and the community that parks should be a priority for the future.

    “We don’t have a dime to do any of the parks and we don’t have a plan to get a dime to do any of the parks,” he said.

    Developing entire parks is an expensive and, as a result, uncommon budget item, said Parks and Recreation Director Joe Stevens.

    “It’s not as easy as planting trees and sprinkling grass seed,” Stevens said. “We get lottery dollars and impact fees — it’ not enough money to do a whole heck of a lot.”
Money for parks could come from a sales tax increase, which Palmer said may be an attractive option for citizens because people living in the city contribute just 22 percent of city sales tax revenue.

    Another option would be to continue de-Brucing after the Riverside Parkway debt is paid and use the overflow tax money for parks.

    The city has more than doubled its park space acreage in the last 12 years. The largest park, 207-acre Matchett, was added in 1997, 107-acre Las Colonias became city property in 1996 and 30-acre Saccomanno was purchased the year before that. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board member Reford Theobold is glad the city bought the land during his tenure on city council at a lower rate than it would cost now.

    “It’s always wise to buy and set aside the land whenever possible,” Theobold said.

    The land isn’t going anywhere, said Councilman Bruce Hill, who serves as the council’s representative on the Parks Improvement Advisory Board.

    “I don’t have a priority list nor do I feel we have to build parks. It’s a land bank inventory that we’ll use when an opportunity presents itself,” Hill said.

    The city would work with a donation or private funding source to develop a park, Stevens said.

    According to the Grand Junction City Charter, the city cannot sell park land unless people vote in favor of selling or re-designating park land. That’s unlikely to happen said Hill, citing the twice-denied attempt to get voters to agree to re-designate Lilac Park.

    Palmer envisions Matchett as a park similar to Canyon View, which broke ground in 1996 and continues to develop. The site may one day include a school as well, and, Stevens hopes, an outdoor swimming pool.

    An indoor pool would go better on Burkey, in Palmer’s opinion. He’d also like to see a family park “with swings and a gazebo” on Saccomanno and the cultural amenities outlined in the Las Colonias Master Plan go on Las Colonias, which is located by the Colorado River.

    “The future of the riverfront — we haven’t even begun to dream what all that could be,” he said.

    The upcoming need for money to fund a public safety facility is the city council’s number one priority, Palmer said. But he’d also like to work on getting Burkey Park finished. The land has been vacant for 40 years. Neighbors wanting something placed on the land have even volunteered to be annexed into the city at an April parks advisory board meeting, said Theobold. And the son of the Burkeys who donated the property think four decades is long enough to wait for land they were promised would be developed.

    “The city made a promise to these people and I want to make good on our word,” Palmer said.

    Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.