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Open space: 550 acres now just 60
Delays by the city of Flagstaff have meant the $7.6 million in bonds approved by voters in 2004 don't go very far.

By JOE FERGUSON
Arizona Daily Sun
December 04, 2009

After more than five years of delays, the city is inching closer to preserving a total of 60 acres of open space with $3.9 million of the bond money approved by Flagstaff voters five years ago. It is, however, a far cry from the 550 acres the city said it wanted to preserve in 2004 when it asked voters to approve $7.6 million for open space. Atop the list is a 23-acre parcel above Thorpe Park on Observatory Mesa, which would eventually connect the Flagstaff Urban Trail System to state and federally owned lands. The purchase of Thorpe Park property and several other parcels would vastly expand the FUTS as well as preserve several properties that could otherwise be developed for commercial or residential use.

The planned purchases have been plagued by various problems over the years, said the current chair of the citizen-run Open Spaces Commission, Jackie Dierks-Walker. She said when the first list of properties was announced 18 months ago, the commission did not take into account whether the properties were actually for sale. At the time, commission had wanted to buy other properties, including the sought-after 11-acre Weitzel parcel on Lockett near Fanning that contains a portion of the historic Beale Wagon Road. "A lot of the problems we had were that some of the properties were in the [Yavapai] land exchange, some were state trust lands," she said. Currently, the U.S. Forest Service owns the Weitzel parcel. City officials are hoping the Forest Service will give the property to FUSD as part of the Yavapai land exchange.

The new recommendations, would preserve roughly 60 acres of undeveloped land within the city limits. On the list: 20 acres near Thorpe Park, 2 acres near the new YMCA in Switzer Canyon, 15 acres near Sechrist School, 4 acres along East Route 66 and up to 16 acres near Hoffman Tank.

MEETS SEVERAL CRITERIA

Brian Grube, a staff liaison for the commission, said the Thorpe Park parcel will meet several of the criteria sought for preservation: close to a neighborhood, near existing FUTS trails and connects to other open spaces. "Through that land you could access state and national forest land," Grube said. "Twenty acres within the city limits is a really big chunk of land, you don't often find that within the city," Grube said. Once rejected by the commission, the "Will Grade" parcel along East Route 66 is now one of the five identified properties the city will attempt to buy in the coming months. Dierks-Walker said she pushed hard for the inclusion of the property just east of the Sherwin Williams and ICS paint stores, noting it is the last tract of undeveloped land along the historic Route 66. "I know that it is expensive and we probably won't even get it, but it just seems tragic to me that the beautiful red rock could get leveled," Dierks-Walker said. Grube added that if purchased it could connect to privately owned property on McMillan Mesa that is unlikely to be developed due to the steep slope.

Another parcel of about two acres in Switzer Canyon near the new YMCA is expected to cost the city roughly $120,000. Commissioners told the Flagstaff City Council recently they wanted to buy the parcel because it is one of the few open spaces left in midtown Flagstaff.

BUFFER ZONE NEAR SECHRIST

Still on the list is a county-owned parcel near Sechrist Elementary. The commission wants to preserve the thick cluster of mature ponderosa pines on the 15-acre parcel by blocking any construction from occurring along the ridge or on the slope of the property.

Another parcel, the Hoffman Tank, is considered a vital part of a wildlife corridor near the city's Rio de Flag water treatment plant south of Interstate 40. A study by an urban wildlife planner for the Arizona Game and Fish Department suggested the combination of forested and open lands made for a good wildlife corridor. But with the commission limiting its recommendation to $1 million, city officials conceded buying the 36 acres of state lands would be difficult unless the city partners with other agencies.

Voters approved $7.6 million in bonds in 2004 to secure 550 acres of open space equal to 50 more miles of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System. But after a slow start by the Open Spaces Commission over how to prioritize the trail links caused a delay in preparing valuations, the original bond is worth a lot less today than in 2004. A portion of the bond money has been set aside to buy easements to extend the FUTS.


Properties approved for purchase

Acres

Hoffman Tank 16.7 $1,000,000

"Will Grade" Route 66 4 $980,000

Thorpe Park 23 $920,000

County Parcel by Sechrist School 15 $900,000

Switzer Canyon 2 $120,000

Total 60.7 $3.92 million

Source: City of Flagstaff