In November the city of Southlake acquired 12.5 acres to be used as passive, open space.
The property is located at the intersection of SH 114 and East Highland Street in Southlake, between HarborChase of Southlake and Abiding Grace Lutheran Church.
The land has been up for sale for several years, Community Services Director Chris Tribble said. The city purchased the land for slightly more than $3 million with money from the city’s general fund, according to a city news release.
The council had been interested in acquiring land for additional open space for some time, city officials said.
“For now, the land will stay in its current passive state, maybe with a little bit of cleanup of the brush, but we want to work with the Council and the Parks and Recreation Board to determine its best uses,” Assistant City Manager Ben Thatcher said in a news release.
Tribble described a passive park as an area of land that is left to nature and is generally undisturbed. There are no organized, recreational uses at passive parks, so no athletic fields or playgrounds will be developed at the site. The city could choose to add a few amenities, such as trails or benches, he said.
Since the acquisition, the land has been added to the city’s inventory of open space and will eventually receive a passive open space designation in the city’s master plan, Tribble said.
In addition, it is likely that Kirkwood Boulevard will eventually be extended, since the city now has the land for this. The extension would carry Kirkwood to the SH 114 frontage road across from the land, Tribble said.
The Southlake parks system currently has 19 passive parks. With this new property, the city adds to its more than 1,000 acres of parkland.
