Want to protect it? Buy it! (Then what?)

Star Tribune Tue, 13 May 2008 22:57:52 GMT
Cities buying up open space now, asking questions later

After voters approve funding to preserve land, cities such as Blaine must decide what to do with it. Since Blaine residents voted almost eight years ago to buy $3.5 million of open space for preservation, the city has acquired nine properties. But now the question is: What to do with that land? Blaine is just one of several cities and counties across the metro area that has put saving open space on ballots in the past decade. In many cases, voters were swayed by the idea of creating pockets of land untouched by development. But now many cities that passed such preservation plans are struggling to decide what to do with the land they want to save. They also have to convince the public that once the open space is preserved, tax money should be used to maintain and improve the property. "There's a lot of talk when the financial part comes up about how much is the city going to invest in this," said Deric Deuschle, an Andover resident who serves on the city's open space advisory commission. "Nobody's found the magic way of making this work perfectly."

[[keywords: LandUse;Metro;]]