West Point Park: City dodges state takeover and preservation overtures?

A debate over development plans near the Eno River has taken a strange turn in recent weeks, bringing to bear a debate over one of the City's most treasured parks -- and whether a horse-trade opportunity with the state would help preserve, or impair, the public's use of Durham's aquatic treasure.

As Jim Wise has reported over at the N&O, one of the last vestiges of the much-despised Eno Drive roadway proposal has reared its ugly head in recent months, as a local development team's floated proposals to develop Mildred Lee Ray's 60-acre parcel near the Eno River in North Durham.

That parcel received permission for high-density development a few decades back, when Eno Drive was expected to create a Northern Durham beltline connecting the two ends of I-85. Despite the road's demise, as Wise noted in his May 31 article, a Chapel Hill developer proposed the creation of almost 250 homes and townhouses on the parcel, which sits to the south side of the Eno River and the City's park on the river, West Point Park on the Eno.

(The Ray parcel appears in light purple along the southern boundary of West Point Park in the image at left.)

Although other suburban subdivisions flank the Ray parcel (and the Eno in general), this 60-acre tract has attracted intensive attention from the non-profits active in the preservation of the Eno corridor due to its sloping towards the river, rather than away from it as most developed parcels along the Eno do.

"We're not even open to talking about any other ideas than preservation," says Dave Owen, treasurer of the Friends of West Point on the Eno Park, a local association dedicated to protecting and enhancing the city park. "This is one piece that's got to be saved."

A sentiment that raises what could be a very pricey proposition for government: can the parcel be bought out, and if so, by whom -- and at what cost?

Naturally, the property owner is just as happy to sell the property for conservation as for development -- yet with an asking price of over $4 million, the cost of preserving this land is not cheap, to say the least.

Which is where the horse trade opportunity we mentioned above comes in.

You see, the West Point Park on the Eno is a city-maintained facility that stretches between Roxboro Rd. and Guess Rd., lying north of the Ray parcel.

Yet North Carolina maintains its own recreational parcel -- the Eno River State Park, a state government-maintained park that runs along the river from Guess Rd. west towards Hillsborough.

As the FOWPP notes on their web site, representatives of their group, the Eno River Association, the city and the state met this winter to talk about a plan to preserve the 60-acre Ray parcel from development -- a plan that would involve the state's participation in the preservation of the site.

The plan the state has in mind? The state park system would negotiate for and purchase the Ray parcel, in exchange for the City of Durham transferring the West Point Park to the state, which would incorporate both the park and the new parcel into Eno River State Park.

It's a proposal that, on the face of things, appears to bring two benefits to Durham: an ecologically-sensitive parcel is preserved, while the city -- which is always pleading poverty when it comes to maintaining park facilities -- gets to take the financial obligation of operating and capital expenses off the table while maintaining the park in state hands.

This plan, however, has run into a roadblock: opposition from, as we understand it at BCR, city staff and at least one elected official, who are reluctant to transfer the park property to state hands.

City officials reportedly met on Tuesday to discuss a plan for finding the funds to purchase the park out of Durham's own coffers, with the possibility of getting some of the funding from the state's clean water management trust fund.

(It should be noted that the $4 million asking price for the parcel is just that -- an asking price, not the final sales price. Still, one can imagine a City purchase of the land as being a seven-figure investment in any event.)

One concern raised by City Councilman Mike Woodard in a discussion on Tuesday: whether the state would allow the full range of activities, ranging from the Festival on the Eno to the Schoolhouse of Wonder educational program, that the city permits on the site.

For his part, Owen noted that the state has seemed supportive of allowing such arrangements to continue, mirroring a practice reportedly in use in other N.C. state parks.

Still, expect this issue to be a major one as discussions among non-profits, the city and state continue -- with good reason, given the importance of maintaining citizens' access to the very popular river and park.

To date, this has been a debate seemingly taking shape to the periphery of the public debate that usually consumes issues in the Bull City. With good reason, perhaps: the prima facie case for the state's deal seems too good to be true, something the city seems likely to contest vigorously.

Which makes the city's interest in maintaining municipal control of this crown jewel of the park system an issue to watch for in the months to come.

Comments

[Michael Bacon]

My inclination, all else being equal, is to want to see this kept a city park. I'd just like to see the city improve public transit and bike access to it, so it didn't require a hot car trip to get there from anywhere but Old Farm.

But everything else isn't equal. The state has done a very good job in maintaining and upgrading the other parts of ERSP. The city has done a pretty good job with WPOE, but the rest of the city's park system is largely in extreme disrepair.

Again, I like having WPOE as a locally controlled park. But the city simply isn't taking care of its parks right now, so getting rid of one of the most expensive to maintain might be a good idea.

[Max]

I think the swap is a great idea.

The state parks are much better maintained than the city park. For example, the best hiking trail at West Point connects the mill to Guess Rd along the north bank of the river, but it's not usable in the summer because it's overgrown and mobbed with ticks. The loop at Eno State Park, in contrast, is well-kept and accessible all year round. It's also much easier to walk in to swimming holes in the state park versus West Point. State ownership could mean better maintenance and more access for Durham residents.

As Kevin mentioned, many NC state parks host cultural activities like the Festival on the Eno, and the city could write some kind of covenant into the title to ensure that this type of programming continues.

Most importantly, freed from the burden of West Point, the city could devote more resources toward improving and expanding the entire park system. One obvious improvement along the Eno would be to rebuild the Old Farm and River Forest parks and to connect them to each other and to West Point with new pedestrian bridges. It would be great to build hike and bike trails further downstream and eventually connect the state and city parks all the way to Penny's Bend.

I would suggest that the Friends of the West Point push for a solution that expands conservation and access along the entire Eno River throughout Durham County.

[John Schelp]

I think the swap is a wonderful idea and I hope the City will support it.

Not only would we be able to save the 60-acre parcel next to West Point from development, the City could then devote more energy and resources to its other parks.

[Annie]

It is a swap? Or would the City just be giving West Point Park to the State? In a swap, both parites receive something. Does the City get anything in return for having the State take over West Point Park?

What is West Point Park worth? How big is West Point Park compared to the Ray property?

How much would the City save by giving West Point Park to the State? Someone at the City told me that it would only save about $30-40 K per year in hard costs. Can anyone verify that number?

[tina]

I have to agree that the swap or giving it to the State sounds like a win win situation. I understand the City's concern about ensuring access for educational events and the Festival on the Eno. But other state parks allow these sort of things. So I wonder if the city is just trying to get this in writing from the state or what the REAL reason behind the city's reluctance.

[bulloney]

"Other state parks allow this..." Sounds like an urban legend to me. What state parks allow fund-raising festivals, where the proceeds go to the non-profit?

[Todd]

The swap sounds like a great idea
- preserve the property that backs up to the park from becoming another cookie-cutter, overly dense development, with the associated environmental degradation, and
-keep the additional traffic from the proposed development off Roxboro St, and
-keep the city from tying up its own capital to purchase the property, delaying other needed projects somewhere else, and
-free the city parks & rec department from the costs and responsibility of maintaining this very large park.

The city has already shown, time and again, that it is not capable of maintaining the parks (and many other things) the way they should be. The city also has double the value of priority projects in the CIP compared to the available funding. The state does a fine job caring for Eno State Park - I am sure they would do just as well with this.

This is a win-win proposition all around.

[Jeanette Foster]

I don't know anything about the private property that is proposed in the "swap," but it seems to me that one basic idea is that the State Parks can care for property better than the City Parks can. Hey -- has anyone seen the trails at Pilot Mountain State Park that are 8 inches deep in mud and about 4 inches wide? Or the rental cabins at Hanging Rock State Park that have rats and roaches? And so on. The State Parks are just as poorly funded for maintenance as the City Parks. What is needed for West Point is an active volunteer group that can assist the park with clean up and trail work.

[Steve]

Both the Haw River State Park and the Umstead State Park have festivals where the money goes to a non-profit (the Haw River Assembly and the Umstead Coalition, respectively) dedicated to caring for the park.