Gilbert likely to try to purchase or lease land

Gilbert could move ahead this week with long-held plans to lease or purchase 216 acres on the south side of town from the Maricopa County Flood Control District for $24.5 million, to be paid for with bonds backed by impact fees and sales tax revenue.

Officials are projecting that worsening economic conditions could force the council to cut millions from the budget in upcoming years, but Town Councilman Steve Urie said moving ahead with the plans while land prices are down makes sense, and the transactions won't divert money from other needed services.

"The timing may seem bad, but Gilbert is doing what it's always done," he said - buying land while the market is down, so it can be developed into parks once there is money there to do so.

The council is scheduled to vote on whether to acquire the land at its Tuesday meeting, which begins 7 p.m. in the council chambers, at 50 E. Civic Center Drive.

Most of the land is located in flood basins that can't be developed for homes or businesses, the biggest chunk of these being the 148-acre Rittenhouse Basin, on the east side of Power Road south of Williams Field Road. Gilbert will pay the flood control district $9.5 million for a "perpetual lease" of the property. Another 11 acres next to the undevelopable basin would be purchased for $1.4 million.

The town is also looking to buy about 57 acres of property around the Chandler Heights Basin at Higley and Ocotillo roads for $13.4 million. The 230-acre basin itself is expected to become available for a perpetual lease in four to five years, according to a town report.

Town Manager George Pettit said the bonds to pay for the land purchases will be on the market by this summer, and said it may not be difficult to find investors despite last year's turmoil in the financial markets. "The bond market has been stabilizing in recent months, and interest rates are favorable," he said.

The bond investors will be paid back via park development impact fees charged when new homes are built, or out of the General Fund if the town doesn't collect enough park impact fees.

The areas around the Rittenhouse and Chandler Heights basins have been discussed as possible sites for projects such as the relocation of the Gilbert Rodeo Grounds and a joint-use facility for the town and YMCA. No structures can be built in the flood basins themselves, so they will have to be reserved for athletic fields and other open-space uses, Urie said.

He said the town has developed numerous parks in and around flood-control basins, including Crossroads Park, the site of the recently opened Polar Ice Arena.

By Blake Herzog