Fort Worth just spent $13.6 million on new parkland. Here's what to know

Yahoo

11-12-2024

The Fort Worth City Council on Dec. 10 agreed to spend $13.6 million on almost 300 acres of future parkland in the city's far north.
Named after the Fort Worth cattleman who once tended the land, Tinsley Ranch Park will squeeze between a subdivision and a row of industrial lots just west of U.S. 287. The site, little more than grass and gas wells today, sits roughly seven miles east of Eagle Mountain Lake and four miles north of Bonds Ranch Road, a patch in a rapidly dwindling expanse of country terrain succumbing to the spread of suburban sprawl.
Fort Worth leaders have long strategized about how and where to protect green space from the pressures of residential and commercial development.
'Parks, open space, and recreational opportunities are essential, not only to enhance quality of life and neighborhood vitality, but also to preserve natural resources and provide alternative transportation links between neighborhoods, business districts and other destinations,' officials from the then Parks and Community Services Department wrote in the city's 2015 Park, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.
Planners assess the city's open space needs with an acronym-heavy rule of thumb: every 3,000-6,000 people, a 'neighborhood park unit' (NPU), need a 'close-to-home' park fitted with open grass, playgrounds and picnic spaces within a half mile radius of their houses. A 'community park unit' (CPU), comprised of 18,000 to 36,000 residents, needs trails, organized fields and community centers within a mile and a half. Special use and nature based parks, like the Botanic Garden and the Nature Center, service the whole city.
Tinsley Ranch will become Fort Worth park number 303, providing recreational space to the swell of subdivisions sprouting up across Fort Worth's northern fringes.
When it will open has yet to be decided.
'The property's topography supports various potential community park uses, including athletic fields, walking/biking trails, pavilions, playgrounds, and other facilities,' Karen Stuhmer, the parks and recreation department's spokesperson, told the Star-Telegram. 'However, there is no set timeline for development. Progress will depend on future funding opportunities, such as bond and grant programs.'
Investments in the park will take on more urgency as people and businesses continue to flow northward, Stuhmer added. The city, in the meantime, may lease the land for cattle grazing to rake in some cash and keep the grounds maintained.
The Tarrant Appraisal District values the 300 acres of soon-to-be repurposed land at around $3.8 million. A city report detailing the acquisition said 'an independent appraisal supports the purchase price' of $13.4 million (plus an additional $205,000 in closing costs).
'The property has been owned by the same family for several generations, which often results in a lower valuation by the appraisal district,' Stuhmer said, explaining the $9.6 million gap. 'This appraisal considered comparable property sales in the area and aligns with our own estimates of land value for this region.'