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<br />Stu dy con firms open ne ar homes pays, off
<br />o Parks, natural areas and greenways boost values Iof
<br />surrounding private property.
<br />ByLAURIE BLAKE
<br />1b1nke@surtr3bune=m
<br />n Hennepin County;
<br />homes within 200 feet of
<br />,park, natural area or,gre-
<br />enway t an average proper-
<br />ty v#ue boost of $16,3W be-
<br />cause of their Pr ty to
<br />open land, a study has
<br />The benefit of Wge parks.
<br />.aw+""10 'MIF.OWN 9,,t4hear r%rumon
<br />Cvloll 1-1-11—Le UP—
<br />areas of 50 acres, or more lend
<br />increased vOue of 3 to 4,8 per-
<br />cefit to homes up to a half-Daile
<br />away, the study says,
<br />"Mese are the fmdings of la
<br />Property value analysis by Em-
<br />brwax Open Spac% a program
<br />of Tbq Trust for Public Land,
<br />a St Pkfl-based Wid conserva-
<br />tion a4vociacy &MUP.
<br />"We are interested In rais-
<br />ing public awareness of tfie
<br />benefits of conserVIA9. natu-
<br />ral areas," said Jenna Retcher,
<br />program coordinator for Em-
<br />birece. Opec. Space,
<br />With funding from the
<br />McKnight Foundation, Three
<br />Rivexs Park District and oth-
<br />ers, the study used census
<br />ta, home sale =0 other infor-
<br />mation to conclude that Hen-
<br />nepin Countys "toW increase
<br />in property values due to the
<br />prese= of open space is $16
<br />billion." That value generates
<br />�$36 million m' tax revenues a
<br />Year, the study cakulates.
<br />Embrace Open Space said
<br />it chow to study Hennepin
<br />County because of "its rap-
<br />M
<br />&,.
<br />gree ofunprotected natural re-
<br />sources.'
<br />Addressm'g cornmonn ques,-
<br />tioiv about harvi. W13,
<br />se
<br />'37v*,.
<br />Lind affects tax revenues,. the
<br />study sap that tax revenues
<br />lost by keeping land as open
<br />spape can be "offset in pa- t if
<br />homes adjacent to open space
<br />have greater value and pro-
<br />duce higher property tax rev-
<br />enue."
<br />e are 'tang to build the
<br />arguments for why should cit-
<br />ies and counties and town-
<br />ships W'vest In Parks and natu-
<br />ral arW Pletcher sg&
<br />Not - only does 'the study
<br />dhow the bew& to properties
<br />close by, but it also shows that
<br />all properties benefit !� be-
<br />cause- there is open space in
<br />A city," -she said. "If a dty In-
<br />cream its investinentin Qpen
<br />space, we can predict the' i in-
<br />crease vWuW"
<br />crease in
<br />,home
<br />Open Space p law
<br />to present the study to select-
<br />ed cities this suer. -Hen-
<br />nepin County will use, the in-
<br />fo in discussions with
<br />developing cities about sav-
<br />ing critical natural areas, said
<br />Rosemary',IAA4 assistant di-
<br />►p&Mv nf 4%Tw4mnv1nPntn1 war-
<br />vices for the county.
<br />'There -is a view that the
<br />county has a hi amount of
<br />open space, but weve gat
<br />con Wiling &velopinent that
<br />as occurring throughout the
<br />county,"Lavin said.
<br />The lopenWce study gives
<br />cities an economic r6m in
<br />addition to the natural envi-
<br />ro=entail benefits, to bal-
<br />ance land preservation w,Ith
<br />developnwait, she said,
<br />. T1w study found that 18
<br />percent of HemriVin Coun-
<br />ty is Open space and about a
<br />third ofthat is the parks, Ualls
<br />and natural land- M" the Three
<br />Rivers Park District.'
<br />The study esttmates that
<br />B-3
<br />208925v4
<br />Tbree Even 0* lands and
<br />vatuM areas have ln=Lsed
<br />home valuei.-by $jW,mMlion
<br />— -a figure that .. #. to
<br />$3.5 million a: year in PrOPT
<br />ty tax revenues for Pepin
<br />C(MtY.
<br />Tbrft. Rivers conUftW
<br />$M000 to the study to jet that
<br />kind of detail about "what it is
<br />we bring to the commnitypt
<br />said Three Rivers Commis-
<br />sioner Marilyn Coicoram
<br />"It helps to ponfirin that the
<br />tMillt 2ndfhp nnpn mwm-mm-
<br />bined are importai4 to peo-
<br />ple, important to their qaaft
<br />of life, and we can validate, that
<br />claim isift just a hollow cbm-
<br />p2ezitlo she said,
<br />Some . people are "truly
<br />skeptics as to the value of a
<br />trail and open space„" Cor'co`_.
<br />�ran &-ddL
<br />Bw, Carls6n,'Three Rivers'
<br />pv=06ital relation . id-
<br />M11115trator, saicL I think ev-
<br />erybodffeels that pub are
<br />a gDOd WW Whit the Sh*
<br />shows is they am also "a �good
<br />investment of public dollars."
<br />Uwrle ftke ■ 612473•1711
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