Voters to decide on city youth park expansion and sale of Westside Park

McALLEN —McAllen voters will decide whether the city should issue $35 million worth of bonds to build a youth baseball and softball complex, expand the city’s lone youth soccer complex, build a giant new tennis center and renovate Municipal Park.

A second proposition, which will be on the ballot during a special election May 8, will put Westside Park back up for sale.

If the propositions are approved, the city’s property tax rate would increase about 3.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, City Finance Director Jerry Dale said.

That would translate to about a $30 increase on a person’s tax bill for a home worth $100,000 that qualifies for the $15,000 homestead exemption.

Voters will also decide on a proposition that would give the city the authority to sell Westside Park — about 40 acres of land across South Ware Road from the McAllen Convention Center. The city previously attempted to sell the property in 2008.

City leaders and members of two nonprofit groups that developed the parks proposals said initiatives would upgrade an outdated network of city youth sports fields to meet current and future demand and boost the local economy by drawing state and national tournaments to McAllen.

City Commissioner Scott Crane said the sale of Westside Park would “elevate the land to its best use” as a location for retail or mixed-use development, which would generate sales tax revenue for the city. Texas law requires that cities get voter approval before selling public parkland and then reinvest the revenue from the sale into their park systems.

“The new (park) sites are centrally located and will be convenient for the majority of the families,” Crane said during Monday‘s City Commission meeting. “They’re not on the extreme north of the town by Monte Cristo (Road) or the extreme south by the (McAllen Foreign) Trade Zone. … All these (things) are positives for our community, and I hope everybody gives this serious consideration.”

Mayor Richard Cortez could not be reached for comment and missed Monday’s commission vote to have the referendum because of city business obligations in Washington, D.C.

The total cost for the park developments is projected to be about $41 million, of which $35 million would come from the bond sale and the rest would come directly from the city’s coffers, City Manager Mike Perez said.

Crane said the park development proposition has been tied to the sale of Westside Park so the city can recoup the $6 million in expenses for the park enhancement and expansion projects.

“We might not sell (Westside Park) in six months or six years, but it gives us a comfort level with our (general fund) reserves knowing that we can replenish them,” Crane said. “We’re all very confident (Westside Park) will sell for much more than that $6 million figure.”

The city put the park up for sale twice in 2008, asking for a minimum bid of $23.2 million and stipulating that the land be developed into a combination of “upscale housing consisting of luxury homes and high-end condominiums or townhouses.” The city did not receive any bids.

A group of McAllen residents formed a nonprofit last year to push the proposals for two new youth sports complexes and the redevelopment of Municipal Park.

That group, McAllen Facility Amateur Sports Task Force, or MFast, proposes:

>> Acquiring about 70 acres of land at the intersection of North Ware Road and Vine Avenue by McAllen Rowe High School to construct a sprawling complex of 17 youth baseball and softball fields.

>> Expanding the current youth soccer fields on city-owned property near De Leon Middle School, 4201 N. 29th St., to include 10 additional soccer fields.

>> Demolishing the old baseball fields at Municipal Park, at the intersection of North Bicentennial Boulevard and Quince Avenue, and constructing six new adult baseball fields. The plan would include relocating the skate park area, the park pavilion and other park amenities.

“The city has at least tripled in size (since) when I was a kid, so demand (for youth sports) has at least tripled,” said 42-year-old Danny Gurwitz, a co-founder of MFast. “If we do this right, we can host statewide tournaments, but primarily the reason (for the fields) is because our demand far exceeds our capacity.”

Another nonprofit — Rio Grande Valley Tennis and Education Park — is proposing the redevelopment of the city’s long-underutilized McAllen Botanical Gardens north of Westside Park into a new tennis center. The Valley Botanical Garden Association used to maintain the site, but it was closed by the city in 2007 and has become a haven for lewd and criminal activity, Perez said.

The nonprofit proposes the city build a large tennis complex on the site, featuring 36 tennis courts, a clubhouse, parking and a center court with 1,500 seats for tournament play. The design — developed by the U.S. Tennis Association — would maintain the park setting by dispersing courts among the trees and utilizing the current trail system, officials said.

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Nick Pipitone covers McAllen, PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.