Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution administratively reclassifies the Senior Center Courtyard located at 330 West Mifflin Street as a city park under the authority of the Board of Parks Commissioners. The Courtyard will be added to the Parkland Inventory to be managed as an asset of the Parks Division. The 2023 Parks Division capital budget includes $450,000 for the planning, design, and reconstruction of the property as a public park, including $225,000 of Impact Fee funding. Reclassifying the Courtyard as a public park allows for the use of the impact fee funding which is legally restricted to development of parks.
The Community Development Division and the Parks Division are negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding to define each agency’s maintenance responsibilities of the exterior of the Senior Center property adjacent to the Courtyard. Parks Division costs in 2023 are anticipated to be paid from existing capital and operating budgets. Initial estimated future operating expenses are $60,000 but will be evaluated more closely prior to the 2024 operating budget request submission. Fiscal impacts for the Community Development Division are minimal. No appropriation is required at this time.
Title
Approving Administrative Parcel Reclassification of the Senior Center Courtyard from Urban Plaza to Park and Authorizing the Parks Division to Improve, Program and Maintain as a Public Park (4th A.D)
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Madison has owned the property located at 330 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, described as Lot 1 of CSM 3753, in the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin (“Property”) since 1981. The Property includes portions of the building at 330 W. Mifflin St., a driveway and entrance area, as well as an open space area designated as a “Public Mall”; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison Community Development Division (“CDD”) has operated the Madison Senior Center on the Property since 1983. The Public Mall area of the Property, the Senior Center Courtyard (“Courtyard”), has been classified as an Urban Plaza within the City of Madison Administrative Parcel classification system. The Courtyard has been lightly developed for uses associated with the Senior Center, but is underdeveloped and underutilized as public open space; and,
WHEREAS, there are public access easements and sidewalks that connect both West Mifflin Street and West Dayton Street to the Courtyard, which would make a transition of the space to parkland seamless; and,
WHEREAS, the City’s adopted 2018 Comprehensive Plan (Legistar File # 51349) notes that the Property is located within an area identified for significant mixed use and high density residential redevelopment. The Comprehensive Plan recommends that the City facilitate partnerships and pursue acquisition of parkland in areas which have had significant redevelopment to ensure complete neighborhoods with adequate access to park and open space; and,
WHEREAS, the Downtown Plan adopted by the City of Madison Common Council on July 17, 2012 (Legistar File No. 24468) identifies that the current amount of downtown park land is inadequate to meet the growing needs of the area; and,
WHEREAS, the Parks Division is agreeable to having the Courtyard being designated as a City park and operating and improving the site to meet the inadequate downtown open space; and,
WHEREAS, the administrative reclassification of the Courtyard as a public park would add approximately 20,560 square feet (.47 of an acre) of park and open space area in the downtown area, while providing expanded opportunities for recreational uses in this densely populated urban center, which is consistent with the City ’s adopted 2018 Park and Open Space Plan (Legistar File No. 52928), which includes the recommendation to “Acquire parkland to reduce parkland deficiencies and address increasing residential density”; and
WHEREAS, the CDD supports the transfer of Administrative ownership and control of the Courtyard to the Parks Division for purposes of improvement, programming and maintenance and future use as a public park; and,
WHEREAS, the Board of Park Commissioners recognizes the importance of securing this property to support the redevelopment of the Downtown urban center and for use and enjoyment by the public; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison Common Council supports and recognizes the need to address parkland deficiency in this densely populated urban center and desires to reclassify the Courtyard to the administrative classification of Park; and,
WHEREAS, because the Courtyard is not a separate tax parcel, and due to the overlap with the Senior Center operations, it will be necessary for the Parks Division and the CDD to enter into an interagency agreement regarding shared responsibilities over the area.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Senior Center Courtyard located at 330 W. Mifflin St. is administratively reclassified as a City Park, under the authority of the Board of Parks Commissioners. The Courtyard will be added to the Parkland Inventory to be managed as an asset of the Parks Division. A map showing the Courtyard area of the Property is attached to this resolution; and,
NOW BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the CDD and the Parks Division will negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding to define each agency’s maintenance responsibilities of the exterior of the Senior Center Property adjacent to the Courtyard on a form and in a manner that has been approved by the City Attorney; and,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Courtyard lies within the Central District Park-Infrastructure Impact Fee Benefit District and projects created to improve the Courtyard for use as a public park may utilize Park Impact Fees as a funding source.