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EDA and HRA representatives ask park board to consider city land for housing and child care development
Summary
Members of the EDA and HRA urged the park board to add a future agenda item to discuss whether certain city‑owned parcels now classified as parkland might be better repurposed for housing and child care; the board agreed to place the item on a future agenda with supporting data.
At the public forum, Councilmember Kevin Jagger and Eric Sharper spoke on behalf of the city’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), asking the park board to consider whether some city‑owned parcels currently designated as park property could be used for housing or child care development. They emphasized that they were not requesting land transfers that night but wanted a preliminary discussion and supporting information to determine whether parcels such as Gustiffson might be suitable for redevelopment.
Jagger and Sharper said that buildable lots with stubbed utilities would reduce development costs and help attract housing and child‑care projects that support workforce needs. The board agreed to place a discussion item on a future agenda and suggested staff and the EDA/HRA exchange supporting data to begin scoping potential sites and implications for park maintenance and community access.
Board members noted the city’s large inventory of parkland relative to its size and asked staff to prepare baseline data on which parcels are dedicated parkland, which have been omitted from earlier resolutions, and what jurisdictional or legal steps would be required to repurpose land.
