THUNDER BAY — City staff are still recommending Woodside Parkette be declared as surplus land.
At next Monday’s city council meeting, city staff are scheduled to report that after six months of deferrals to allow residents in the area to come up with a plan for the parkette, the plan to sell it as an infill lot still stands.
“This site was identified last year and remains recommended for surplus because it does present a fairly ideal infill opportunity for infill development to support the city's housing efforts,” said Deanna Walker, Manager of Realty Services.
“This memo is setting out to cancel what that plan was arrived at and the reasons why surplus remains recommended as it was six months ago,” Walker told Newswatch.
The sale of Woodside Parkette was a point of contention last June as many residents in the area did not want to lose the green space.
Residents felt the vacant space could be redesigned to include seating and gathering areas, walkways, planter boxes, trees and an open play area.
Council deferred the sale to allow the parks and open spaces division to consult with residents to see if it was feasible.
Walker said consultation with residents was done, but ultimately, administration decided their previous recommendation still stood strong.
“Parks and open spaces ultimately determined that the recommendation from their perspective stood simply because there are two other parkettes in the area that would support those uses, as well as, that reduction of three to two would not significantly impact service levels,” she said.
If council decides to accept administration's recommendation, Woodside Parkette will be sold at market value barring any existing policies for reductions for not-for-profit organizations.
