October 16, 2002

By Don Behm

dbehm@journalsentinel.com

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

P.O. Box 661

Milwaukee, WI 53201

414-224-2000

http://www.jsonline.com/

To submit a Letter to the Editor: wsjopine@madison.com

West Bend - Close proximity to a park boosts a home's property value, says a new study of two parks in Washington County.

In the Village of Jackson, nearly $1.6 million of the total assessed value of all homes within 1,000 feet of Jackson Park is based on their location -- a short distance from the playgrounds, basketball court and shelter there -- according to Deb Sielski, assistant administrator for planning for the county Planning and Parks Department.

If so, the added value generates an extra $30,218 in annual property tax revenue for the village, her study concluded. The park is on Jackson Drive north of Highway 60.

At Homestead Hollow County Park in Germantown, about $880,000 of the total assessed value of homes within a half-mile of the park is due to their proximity to the hiking trails, softball field and sledding hill there, Sielski said. Homestead Hollow is located on Freistadt Road, east of Golden Dale Road, or Highway Y.

The added value there gives Germantown at least $18,000 in extra tax revenue each year.

"As you get closer to a park, the assessed values increase," she said. Assessed values of similar homes were lower at greater distances from the two parks.

Her analysis of five years of residential property assessments -- 1997 to 2001 -- shows that community parks yield economic benefits in addition to improving the health of residents and preserving open space for wildlife, Sielski said.

"You gain so much by having a park nearby," she said.

At public hearings in recent years, Sielski has heard several county residents express the concern that a proposed new park would lower their property values, she said.

She could find no study of the issue in Wisconsin, so Sielski decided to do her own analysis. With her findings, Sielski hopes to alleviate fears of nearby property owners when future parks are proposed in the county, because she believes those parks are necessary.

"Washington County's population is growing so quickly, up 23 percent between 1990 and 2000, that there is a need for more public recreation space," she said.

The Washington County analysis also will become part of a statewide study to be completed early next year by the Community Open Space Partnership in Milwaukee, according to Nancy Frank, chair of the Department of Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Frank is president of the Urban Open Space Foundation (UOSF). The group was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to summarize economic, health, social and environmental benefits of public land.

Results of Sielski's analysis were to be discussed Wednesday at separate meetings of the Washington County Planning, Conservation and Parks Committee and the Jackson Village Board. She also intends to discuss economic benefits of parks at three upcoming meetings on revisions to the county's Park and Open Space Plan.

Mixed reaction to study

Asked to react to Sielski's findings, a home developer said he agreed with the positive impact of parks on property values, while a property assessor discounted the findings in Jackson.

Many of the homes close to Jackson Park are small residences that are more than 20 years old, Village Assessor Michael Grota said. In a 2001 reassessment, those homes did show a greater percentage increase in value than others, he said.

"But housing for the entry-level market will typically show the greatest percentage increases," Grota said.

Jackson Park had a negligible impact on assessments, he said.

James Siepmann, president of Siepmann Realty in Waukesha, said lots closest to the Ice Age National Scenic Trail at two subdivisions were the first to sell and at higher prices than others. The two developments are Hawk's Nest in the Town of Delafield and the Preserve at Hunter's Lake in the Town of Ottawa.

Siepmann, in fact, asked the Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation to reroute a section of the trail through open fields at the Preserve at Hunter's Lake.

Siepmann's Five Fields development in the city of Pewaukee encloses a city park. Nearby homeowners feared a drop in their property values if the park and subdivision were built, he said. But values have risen in the neighborhood, he said.

Twenty studies in other states since the 1970s also have concluded that proximity to parks boosts property values, Sielski said.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/oct02/88269.asp