San Luis looks at leasing federal land for park
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — San Luis will look at leasing federal land as one option to create a new park to serve public demand for new recreational facilities.
The San Luis City Council recently directed the city staff to begin work on applications to lease one or both of two 40-acre parcels, on the southwest corner of County 24th Street and Avenue F and other on the southeast corner of Urtuzuastegui Street and 10th Avenue.
The council, however, is not ruling out a previous offer by the Comite de Bienestar, a non-profit housing organization, to sell to the city 20 acres on the east side of San Luis. That land is part of a 40acre tract where the Comite was to develop a residential subdivision.
Jose Guzman, the city’s planning and zoning director, said the applications can be sent to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management within weeks, but that the process of securing federal approval to lease the land could take two or more years.
San Luis officials are looking at developing a new park to relieve strain on the city’s most heavily used park, Joe Orduño Park located on the north side.
Guzman said San Luis has a total of about 50 acres dedicated to public parks. That number, he said, is less than recommended by the National Association of Parks and Recreation, which says a city of comparable size should have 228 acres of park space.
Joe Orduño comprises 28.12 of the 50 acres, with the remaining acreage consisting of storm retention basis around the city that serve a dual purpose as green space.
The council also voted
to renew its lease with the federal government for the federal land where Joe Orduño Park is now located.
Joe Orduño, which has multiple soccer fields, basketball courts and a baseball diamond, cannot accommodate all the youth and adult athletic leagues in San Luis, prompting some to go out of town to play, city officials say.
Mayor Gerardo Sanchez said the council is working to satisfy a growing demand by residents for athletic and recreational facilities.
“The need for more parks is one of the issues most raised by residents, and for many years nothing had been done,” Sanchez said. “A park hasn’t been built in San Luis since Joe Orduño was done, so we are working. We are doing things that should have been done in the past.”
But even after the city has a parcel or parcels in hand, it will have to find the money to develop and maintain the parks, he said.
“We have to think of the future, not about three or four years from now, but of the next generations. The next city council will have to look at how to finance this.”
Sanchez said the city is still considering what he called an attractive offer made by the Comite de Bienestar.
The Comite proposes to sell to the city half of a 40acre parcel the organization is looking at purchasing from Border Ranches, LLC. The Comite said it would sell the land, located along County 24th Street between Avenues E and F, for $680,000, the same peracre price that it is paying for it.