Palmetto officials reconsider future of 'soccer fields' public park
PALMETTO -- Palmetto officials in June 2015 declared nearly 4 acres along the 1400 block of 10th Street West and 811 14th Ave. W. as surplus land, but are reconsidering that decision because of lingering questions on how it can be used.
The so-called "soccer fields" is zoned public land and was once a baseball field before soccer enthusiasts found it more useful. While the city surplused the land more than seven months ago, a rezone request was made this week. The request opened discussion that resolved some questions, but raised even more to the point where commissioners discussed the possibility of reversing its decision to declare it surplus.
The adjoining three parcels are worth about $236,000 and it is an area the city envisions as its next commercial corridor. The request is to rezone the property from public to mostly residential with a smaller portion designated as commercial. The question was which residential designation was best.
When the city first contemplated surplusing the land, there was a concern that it was deeded to the city for a nearby cemetery expansion. That proved to be untrue, but because it was deeded well before title search capability, determining if there are other restrictions has
been difficult. The city claims the property was purchased from Thomas Taylor in 1947 for $1. The Manatee County Property Appraiser Office lists the sale in 1931.
Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant said city attorney Mark Barnebey researched the property back to the 1950s but stopped until the commission gave more clarity on what they wanted to do. She said the primary purpose of the initial research was to determine whether the land was designated for future cemetery expansion, which it is not.
"If there isn't an inclination to sell the property, I didn't want to spend any more money doing the research," said Bryant.
However, some commissioners were under the impression that when they voted to surplus the land, all of the research had been completed. Ward 2 Commissioner Tambra Varnadore said she would not have supported the surplus without that knowledge, and took further issue with the rezone request.
"If a developer comes in, they are going to do as much as they can," she said. "When we originally talked about this, we talked about one commercial and the rest green space and I'm not sure what happened to that. This is an old, established neighborhood and whoever buys it will ruin the character of that area, in my opinion."
Williams also was under the impression that all the research had been completed, but said development would potentially enhance the area.
Concern about park land
At-large Commissioner Tamara Cornwell expressed a different concern.
"I have a concern taking this off as a park," she said. "We have had several grants and we need to be secure in the fact that we would not be in deficit of park area. The Florida League of Cities is adamant that a city should never market a park and I don't have anyone telling me why we should do that."
Certain state grants do require that a city has a formulated percentage of parks based on its size and population. In Palmetto's case, 60 acres of park are required to be eligible for those grants. Public Works Director Allen Tusing said the city currently has 91.8 acres of park and that doesn't include the 12 acres associated with the new Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
Commissioners agreed that more research needs to be done. No action was taken on the rezone request and the item will be placed on a future agenda.
Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.
This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Palmetto officials reconsider future of 'soccer fields' public park ."