Published: December 16, 2008 01:40 pm      

Jeffersonville will make offer on Perrin land

Hope is to create new park

The city of Jeffersonville will offer the Perrin Park foundation $265,000 for 2.7 acres of riverside land along Utica Pike.

The parcel — which is the subject of recent controversy — is being considered as a location for a new city park.

“The No. 1 goal right now is to decide how to utilize the park,” said Councilman and Jeffersonville Park Authority Chairman Ron Grooms, when asked about plans for the space.

The city plans to solicit donations to go toward the project.

The land, though owned by the Perrin Park Foundation, is not a part of what is known as Perrin Park. The property has made headlines since late last summer, when the foundation asked to have the property rezoned for residential use.

The foundation had planned to sell the property to a residential developer and use the profits of the sale to fund improvements to Perrin Park. The foundation claimed that the zoning had always been residential, but had been improperly changed to a parks and recreation designation without it ever being notified a few years ago. A city planning official corroborated that claim at the time.

Officials from the foundation could not be reached for additional comment Monday night.

Homeowners in the Perrin Pointe subdivision — which lies across from the parcel — fought the request to rezone, fearing that development there would obstruct their scenic views of the Ohio River.

Officials have said the land could someday be combined with other parcels and connected to nearby Duffy’s Landing, a boat dock.