MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Preservation of the Haymaker Forest, part of which sits outside of Morgantown’s City Limits, is a project of significant interest for Morgantown Deputy Mayor Mark Brazaitis.
“It’s an extraordinary piece of property,” he said Monday on WAJR’s Morgantown AM. “It would be Coopers Rock, basically, within the city. You can go three minutes, you can take a walk into the forest as opposed to driving half an hour out of town.”
The $5.2 million acquisition of approximately 40 acres of land would give Council a number of options, Brazaitis said. Primarily, the interest is in preserving the land for economic, regulatory, traffic, and growth reasons, Brazaitis added.
“To hold on to this property, as is, is in both the city’s and the county’s best interest,” he said. “It’s reserve land.”
According to a memorandum from City Manager Paul Brake, the acquisition, management and preservation of such properties could be handled through a land preservation program and advisory board, and funded through a dedicated tax levy.
Brake is recommending a taxation ballot question be presented to voters in April 2019 offering a prospective rate of 2 cents for every $100 of residential property and 4 cents on $100 of commercial property.
“My hope is the voters will see this as I do, which is an extraordinary thing,” Brazaitis said. “To be a leader in West Virginia in this and do some real sensible visionary land management that will make our city stand out and be exceptionally livable.”
The purchase of Haymaker Forest would require an annual payment north of $200,000, according to a report by The Dominion Post.
Brazaitis is advocating for the purchase in part to add to the city’s “green belt.” He told zackquill.com last year during his campaign it would be the final piece of the green belt.
“If we don’t purchase it now the trees are going to be knocked down, a developement of unknown nature is going to put in there and it will be lost forever,” Brazaitis said. “The community will lose it forever. You can’t grow a hundred-year-old forest back in a day.”
Brazaitis, who’s Courtney Avenue property borders the forest, said this has been a major issue for him dating back to his time as a candidate.
“This is how I was known in the community and am known in this community. So I have made this promise clear from the very beginning. This is something I was very upfront about. This is a magical place. I know that. I live near it. It’s a magical place, and I want everyone in the city to be able to enjoy that magic.”
Academic studies, including one by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, have suggested significant value of urban green spaces in cities, but have also suggested additional work needs to be done to quantify that value.
“I’m going to be vigorous about promoting the benefits of this program to the voters, and I’m pretty convinced that the voters will see it as a huge win for our city and will come through,” Brazaitis said. “So, we’re gonna go full guns ont that levy and that vote.”
City Council meets Tuesday night for their first regular meeting of June.