Proposition 9: Developing Park Lands
As of now, the city could not lease land in Blunn Creek Nature Preserve, above, to a school district for development. Proposition 9 seeks to change that. Photo by flickr.com/photos/pitmanra.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
KUT News is taking a look at each of the several propositions to amend the city charter coming up on the November ballot. Today we examine Proposition 9, which would allow the city to lease park land to AISD.
Many undeveloped parks around the city are adjacent to schools, like Blunn Creek nature preserve, for example, which borders Travis High School in South Austin. As of now, if AISD wanted to build, say, tennis courts on the undeveloped land next to Travis High, they couldn’t do it.
That’s because restrictions in the city charter and in state law work together to prevent them from doing so. Though Austin voters can’t change Texas laws, they can amend the city charter.
“The Texas legislature has passed a provision in the state education code that prevents an ISD from spending money unless they have ownership of the land,” said Reyne Telles, spokesman for the city of Austin. “And we do have several park spaces that are designated park land but maybe aren’t developed as a full-out park, but our charter prevents us from giving property interest of park land to an independent school district.”
Proposition 9 would amend the city charter to allow the city to lease land to independent school districts, like Austin and Round Rock. Telles says the city doesn’t have any projects in mind, but if the proposition passes, it could open up new opportunities for park development.
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says that you can’t preserve your nature and develop it, too!!
Blunn Creek NATURE PRESERVE is not a recreational park. It is land reserved for nature ONLY. AISD tennis courts and running tracks and soccer fields are NOT NATURE!
http://kut.org/2012/10/proposition-9-developing-park-lands/
Thank you very much for your comment. The example of Blunn Creek was a hypothetical. Sorry for being unclear. AISD has no current plans to redevelop that site. Thanks for reviewing closely and keeping KUT News on our toes. regards.