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Legal staff: conservation easements restrict private development around Carousel Park; Millpointe or Buckroe relocations permitted with approvals
Summary
City legal staff reported that deed restrictions from earlier state open-space funding restrict private development within the highlighted Carousel Park area; the carousel could be sited at Millpointe or Buckroe but the city must coordinate with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) or the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and respect an impervious-surface cap at Buckroe.
Angela King from city legal staff reviewed conservation-deed restrictions placed when Carousel Park was developed in 1989 and explained the procedural steps the city would need to take to change the restricted uses.
"Open space deed restrictions were placed on the property at that time," King said, and she noted the city has previously completed a DCR release procedure by replacing restrictions on a different parcel. King also said Millpointe Park's highlighted area (created in 2006) currently allows the carousel as a public outdoor recreation use but that the city would still need to notify and coordinate with DCR before relocating the carousel there.
King also described Buckroe Beach's conservation easement and an impervious-surface cap of 5% for the easement area; based on a 2017 monitoring report she said there are approximately 12,000 square feet remaining before the 5% cap is reached. She confirmed staff's square-foot figure for the carousel footprint: "I believe the current square footage was 4,174 square feet." Council was advised that any move to Buckroe or a release of deed restrictions in Carousel Park would require formal coordination with the appropriate state conservation body or the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
