Developer Mel Gore set aside two acres for a park in his Cardinal Crossing subdivision 20 years ago, but the city doesn’t want it.
The Portage Plan Commission voted 4-2 Tuesday to allow him to subdivide it into five lots to build homes there, but in this case yes means no. The nine-member commission would have needed five votes to approve it. Two members were absent, and Brent Wright abstained.
Gore, who owns the land, plans to keep mowing the acreage for now while he figures out whether to try again to subdivide the outlot.
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“I found out at the end of June that the city was not interested in putting a park at that location,” he said, so he proposed turning it into five lots for housing.
Several residents complained that they bought their homes knowing that a park was anticipated there.
But the city didn’t have the money to develop the park 20 years ago, and it still can’t afford it, Mayor Austin Bonta said in a letter.
Brookview Park, about 1.5 blocks away, didn’t exist when Cardinal Crossing was developed.
Portage Township Schools owns an undeveloped, landlocked parcel behind the two acres.
The city has three large parks — Countryside, Imagination Glen and Woodland — all within driving distance, Gore noted, but residents wanted a park in the subdivision so younger children could walk there.
“Our children are playing in that grass already because there’s nowhere else for our children to play,” resident Kyle Ellis said.
“If you have no area for the kids to play, I’m sorry, but they’re playing in the roads,” resident Matt Vandiver said.
The city’s decision not to develop a park at the site led Gore to try to subdivide it for additional housing. The taxes aren’t high, he said, but the land is currently idle and has been for 20 years.
Had the city accepted the land for a potential future park, the situation would be different, Planning and Development Director Tom Cherry said.
It’s currently zoned for residential development.
Commission member Bill Moran said he hopes Gore could work with the community to see if there’s a compromise that would allow kids to use at least part of the acreage.
He and commission president Victoria Vasquez, who is also City Council president, voted against the proposal.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.