EAGLE, Idaho — A property once planned for a neighborhood park may now have a different future. The City of Eagle is auctioning off a 34.5-acre lot on the west side of town at the corner of Floating Feather and Meridian Road.
Back in 2018, the city planned to make the lot into a park for Eagle residents. However, that plan was made by former Mayor Stan Ridgeway.
Current Mayor Jason Pierce defeated Ridgeway in 2019 and is taking a new direction.
“When I ran for Mayor, I made it really clear this was not a place for a park,” Mayor Pierce said. “A lot of the homes around there are three, four, five-acre lot parcels. You don’t buy large acres and live on it to draw thousands of people to your neighborhood a day.”
The city originally paid $2.5 million for the lot and it would another $2 million to develop, according to Mayor Pierce. The city plans on investing in other facilities such as a brand-new sports complex. Projects like those will take time, Pierce said.
However, residents of what would have been West Eagle Park are now left confused.
“Why did they put up the sign and say it was gonna be a park if they didn’t have the money already planned for it?” resident Diane Decime said. “I think they should have done that part of it a little bit better. You don’t get the residents excited and then say ‘Ahh, just kidding.'”
Decime was excited for baseball fields and dog parks – the original plan the city had for the lot. There are no parks within walking distance to the neighborhood, she said.
The lot is up for auction starting on Tuesday with the bid starting at $5 million and is zoned for residential development. Mayor Pierce expects up to 70 new homes in the area.
For neighbors who are upset with the decision and still want a large open field, the Mayor offered the nearby high school field as a solution.