Boise is well known for its beautiful parks, trails and open space reserves. Mayor Lauren McLean and the Boise City Council are poised to adopt broad protections for the city’s parks and open space properties as part of the City of Boise’s commitment to preserve these sites into the future.
Starting November 15 at the Boise City Council’s regularly scheduled meeting, council members will consider weekly resolutions to add lasting protections to more than 50 individual parks and open space properties located within the City of Boise. The sites were identified following an exhaustive review of documents related to the city's park land holdings, open space reserves and the Boise River Greenbelt. While many properties already have lasting protections written into existing agreements like deeds, donation agreements, construction and purchase agreements, the more than 50 sites currently identified will benefit from additional protections established through deed restrictions to make it clear the locations are to be used as parks and open spaces in perpetuity.
“Boise has a strong history of supporting permanent protection for our parks and open spaces, which I experienced firsthand when I led the campaign for the original Foothills and Open Space Levy,” said Mayor McLean. “We are committed to continuing this legacy and setting a standard for future city leaders to follow.”
The Boise City Council approved an updated Park and Open Space Protection Policy in March of 2022. Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway will provide an update on this process and the upcoming park and open space deed restriction resolutions at a work session presentation before the November 15 Boise City Council meeting. The work session is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the city’s Public Meetings YouTube Channel, available here.
Individual resolutions will continue weekly until all identified parks and open space reserves have been presented to council. Updates on this process will be posted on the City of Boise’s website.
The new policy and deed restrictions will be applied to park and open space land acquired in the future, as well as to park and open space land annexed into the city.