Disappearing soon from a neighbourhood near you: Parks attached to former schools.
Get ready to get in your car to drive miles so that you and your kids can play soccer, walk the dog, throw a ball or race around the climber. Then watch your property values plummet, as people seek out neighbourhoods that still have schools and parks close by.
For now.
Across the province, Ontarians are losing hundreds of acres of parklands when schools close due to low enrolment.
A 2008 report by the advocacy group People for Education said 321 schools in Ontario closed between 1998 and 2005. Another 76 are targeted for closure, and 143 are “under review.” And estimated 1,284 acres of greenspace has been lost, and another 800 acres is at risk.
To further complicate matters, greenspace is at risk even in those communities with growing school enrolment, like Halton region.
Schools in new housing developments are typically financed by selling schools and property in older neighbourhoods with declining enrolment. The conundrum pits communities against each other, and crosses three levels of government: the Ministry of Education, the municipality and the school board.
The latest casualty? A 26-acre park attached to the former General Brock High School in Burlington, one of the largest parcels of its kind, a glorious patch of greenspace the community has been battling to save for more than six years.
But on Jan. 7, trustees at the Halton District School Board — with one exception — voted to sell the General Brock lands.
Cash-strapped school boards typically own the land attached to school buildings, and see it as a revenue generator. The Ministry of Education sets the rules for the sale. The land must first be offered to public organizations (like other schools or municipalities) before being offered on the open market.
But these groups only have 90 days to put in a bid, hardly enough time to raise needed cash or consider financing options.
And the land must be sold at “fair market value” — putting General Brock at around $11 million.
So the parkland is lost, typically replaced by single-family homes.
Here’s the irony: The province is trying to get kids to play outside more, and adults to use cars less – all for health and environmental reasons. At the same time, provincial rules make it difficult to protect our parks from being paved over for housing which takes away outdoor opportunities and increases our reliance on cars.
Another irony: In the name of intensification (adding more houses into smaller areas) in order to protect acres of farmland and greenspace surrounding the sprawling suburbs, parklands within suburban city limits are being lost. Some greenspace is more equal than others, it seems.
So, what’s to be done? I met with Katie Brown and Ken Woodruff of the Save General Brock Park Committee last week to hear their proposals for solving the problem.
CAN’T AFFORD MARKET VALUE
“Closing schools has to be done, but we have to address the loss of greenspace in municipalities, and they can’t afford market value,” said Woodruff.
His group is suggesting an extension of the 90-day window. That would allow more time to arrange financing. They also want a loosening of the “fair market value” rule, to allow municipalities and school boards to negotiate long-term funding arrangements that benefit both parties.
Brown said municipalities need to join forces to lobby the ministry, since the issue is province-wide. Her group also wants municipalities to consider rezoning school properties to allow development only where the school building stood, thereby protecting the surrounding greenspace.
In an interview, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne defended the funding rules.
“We have to let school boards recoup the value of the land so they can provide enhanced service,” said Wynne.
The greenspace issue is really one that needs to be resolved collaboratively at the municipal and school board level, she added, and encouraged municipalities to consider greenspace protection into their long-term planning.
On that count, everyone is agreed, though it may not come soon enough to save acres of precious parkland.
