Town Looking Into Unused Park Land for Housing

During the December monthly meeting of the Whitehall Town Council, held Monday, December 13, Town Treasurer and Clerk of Court Alissa Christensen presented a proposal for parkland transition. The land is currently owned by the Town of Whitehall and is located behind Valley View Drive, east of Corbett Loop. The property is .258 acres, is categorized as residential property, and was originally designated as parkland because of the subdivision development regulations.

Christensen said the request to research whether this land could be transitioned to non-park acreage is due to the town's need for more housing.

"This could be a great place for a developer to set up several rentals," she said.

In the proposal, the Town of Whitehall could either donate or sell the land with the following requirements:

• The land be developed for the purpose of housing (multi-unit).

• Needs to be completed in a certain amount of time, which would be set by the Council.

• Planning fees would be covered by the selected RFP.

The Council was requested to allow Christensen to move forward with research. The next course of action would include having the town's planner and attorney put together a request for proposals, advertise the RFP, select the RFP, and pass the resolution.

If the land was transitioned, it would be more revenue for the town, an increase in tax revenue, a betterment to the Town's infrastructure, bring new customers to Whitehall businesses, put the land to a viable use, and would produce growth but not too much growth, the proposal said.

When questioned by councilman Bill Lanes about the difference between donating the property and selling the property, with him noting the premium land is currently pulling, Town Works Manager Kory Klapan answered. According to Klapan, both options are possible, but with a donation of property the Town could put caveats on how the property could be used, whereas with a land purchase they could not.

The Council approved to allow the project to move into the next stage; Christensen said she would keep the Council up to date on developments as they happen.