The city’s Board of Estimates cleared another hurdle for the construction of a downtown park near campus Monday, approving a proposal to acquire the current properties by a voice vote.
The park, proposed to sit on a six-parcel, one-acre piece of land at the corner of West Mifflin Street and North Bassett Street, would replace six private properties that primarily serve students.
Despite criticism from several of the property owners in a previous city meeting, the Plan Commission voted unanimously to approve condemnation of the properties Sept. 22.
Condemnation of the apartment buildings allows the city to buy the properties at a certain value to redevelop into a park, which city officials said is necessary for an area of downtown deficient of green space.
“The reality is, unlike most of your constituents that have relatively convenient green spaces available to them as public amenities, my constituents in this neighborhood do not have that same benefit,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4 said before the vote. “It’s an issue that has become more and more acute over the years.”
The city has about 80 square feet of park space per downtown resident, as opposed to 1,100 square feet per resident for the rest of Madison.
“This has been an ongoing problem for over 25 years,” said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who co-sponsored the proposal with Verveer. “The downtown area has not seen any significant work.”
The park would be funded through impact fees on new developments.
“Impact fees are allowed under state statue only for what they are intended to be used for,” Assistant City Attorney Doran Viste said. “If we don’t use it to acquire land, we can’t just sit on it or use it for other purposes; we have to return it to the people who paid for it.”
Ald. Sara Eskrich, District 13, who voted against the proposal, said the city should focus on maintaining current parks.
“I just really believe this area is well served by green space and the location that it’s in,” she said.
The Board of Park Commissioners will take up the proposal Wednesday.
