By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
MARYSVILLE — There won’t be any new soccer fields. Nor a new community center. Not even whiffle ball. At least, not for now.
Instead, the city will clean up what some have come to call an eyesore and city officials regard as a liability.
Council members Monday unanimously agreed to spend about $23,000 cleaning up a piece of surplus city property that once was used as a golf course driving range. With that money, the old driving range poles and nets will be taken down to 16 feet and the turf will be reseeded.
Council members also agreed to hold another public meeting to assess what the driving range’s neighbors would like to see become of the property at Grove Street and 67th Avenue NE.
Council members couldn’t agree on putting an interim use at the site, whether it was soccer fields or a whiffle ball field for community games. Some of the council believed that once the area became a soccer field, it would be difficult to make it anything else.
"Once we commit, it will be hard to move those kids off, almost impossible," Councilwoman Shirley Bartholomew said.
The old driving range is zoned residential and is overgrown with tall grass, tall poles and unsightly nets.
A survey of residents showed that keeping the area a driving range was not a priority. Of those who responded to the survey, 13 preferred turning the area into a soccer field, while another 13 wanted to see it become a recreational play area and 11 want it to remain a driving range.
For the long term, most preferred creating a permanent park at the site or an indoor community center with outdoor recreational opportunities.
The city bought the 6.2-acre parcel because council members were looking ahead to when the city might need a chunk of property for expansion of city services.
The property’s most recent owner, Iron Eagle Co., defaulted on a loan and the land was put on the bidding block in April. The land was bought May 4 at a bank foreclosure sale when the city bought the land for what it considered a bargain at $599,640.
Shortly after the purchase, about 30 neighbors gathered at a public meeting to voice their opposition against multi-family development on the site.
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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