08/05/1996 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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AI1JRDAY,�.ULY 20. 1Jyb C City(rails also,are popular,such as this one In Stillwater. iRAIIS from 144 "It has a lot to do with how active a gell. family is,"Montgomery said."It's a very In Seattle, a 1987 study by the ity big selling feature. but it's a little engineering department found that unique.You have to find the one person properties directly adjacent to the who wants to pay extra for it." Burke-Gilman Trail weren't as desirable Richard Simmer,assistant manager of as homes that were near the trail but not assessment valuations for Ramsey Coun- on it."According to Seattle-area real es- Tty who provides assessments for all resi- tate agents,,properties near the trail were dential properties in the county, said significantly easier to sell and they sold proximity, to trails is not a factor in for an average of percent more as a determining.,..property-value assess- result of their proximity to the trail. ments.That-means that you're unlikely Properties immediately adjacent to the to`pay more taxes because you live near trail, however, were only slightly easier a trail. to sell. That may•not be true in every city, For, many buyers, trails such as the hst dreye€ 2e1:county has its^Y�'r:plop Luce Line and Gateway are amenities erty.assessors and its own policies, and comparable to parks.Greg Hayes,a sales some county'data bases may take trail agent for Burnet Realty, estimated that systems into account. nearby trails add 1 to 2 percent in value, Some studies.elsewhere have shown but some buyers still are cautious about measurable effects. In Boulder, Colo., a being adjacent to the trail, particularly greenway increased the aggregate prop- along trails that allow snowmobiles. erty values for one neighborhood by$5.4 "But you'll find a large concentration million, resulting in $500,000 in addi- of expensive homes around that fea- tional annual property tax revenues dur- ture,",he said."I think the attraction will ing-the late I970s, according to a report get stronger." titled"The Effects of Greenbelts on Resi- dential Property Values"by Mark R.Cor- re4l, Jane H. Lillydahl and Larry 1?:,Sin