November 3, 2009

The City Council on Monday unanimously accepted a land donation that will expand one Charlottesville park, the largest such contribution made to the city in more than three decades.

Councilors speedily approved the item, solidifying the donation by local builder Southern Development. The developer offered to give about 1.5 acres to the city that would serve as an addition to the 7.35 acres of Forest Hills Park, which is already undergoing extensive renovations to add more amenities and replace the park’s aging wading pool with a more modern sprayground, among other things.

The total cost of that project is roughly $1.2 million and should be completed in January.

Charlie Armstrong, vice president of land development for the local developer, said the donated acreage was residual land as a part of a subdivision that Southern Development is building. When the development — which will consist of 24 townhouses on 3 acres — was planned, the donated parcels had been set aside as greenspace, Armstrong said. A land appraisal done this summer valued it at $90,000.

“We decided to not develop this portion of the land,” Armstrong said in an interview.

The land already adjoins Forest Hills Park and runs along Forest Ridge Road. The city government hailed the donation as a valuable gesture that would expand the city’s greenspace.

The addition to Forest Hills Park is the largest donation of parkland since 1974 and the largest expansion of city parkland, from either purchase or donation, since 1987, according to city officials.

“We’ve been at this effort for quite some time,” said Brian Daly, the acting director for the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

But during a Monday press conference that was meant to announce the donation, one city resident alleged that the event was purposefully timed right before today’s election to allow for political grandstanding, and to give Mayor Dave Norris, who is running for re-election, an advantage.

“I find the timing unusual in light of the tradition in this community to not use public entities for grandstanding,” said Charlottesville resident Jim Moore, who has been involved with the Charlottesville Taxpayer Association.

Norris was the only councilor to attend the press event on Monday and is the only incumbent running in today’s election for City Council. City officials said the event was timed for Monday because the council took up the parkland donation matter at its regular meeting that evening.

Norris said Moore’s remarks were an “unfortunate effort” to try to politicize the land donation.

“To me, it’s a win-win for us all,” he said, adding, “Nobody else is talking politics except for you.”

Councilors have still not tapped into $100,000 that was set aside in the city’s Capital Improvement Program for parkland acquisition. Officials said they were looking into possibly purchasing some pieces of land, but would not elaborate on the negotiations.

“There are locations we are looking at,” Daly said.