Residents call McIntire land deal ‘illegal’

A group of residents who oppose development in McIntire Park stood where a new YMCA is to be built and alleged Monday that the nonprofit’s lease with Charlottesville is illegal.
“Basically this park is going to be destroyed,” city resident Mala Cunningham said.

In December 2007, the City Council voted to lease 3 to 5 acres in McIntire Park to the Piedmont Family YMCA for $1 a year to allow for the construction of a new athletics and aquatics facility. But Bob Fenwick, a member of the McIntire Park Preservation Committee and creator of http://www.save
mcintire.com, said councilors did not convey the land legally because only three councilors voted in favor of the agreement — former Councilor Kevin Lynch, Councilor David Brown and Mayor Dave Norris.
“We contend that that was an illegal move,” he said.

The YMCA has a ground lease for 40 years on the western side of McIntire Park. Fenwick contended that the state constitution requires land transfers to win approval from three-fourths of elected officials — or four votes in the case of the City Council. The argument that the vote granting the lease to the YMCA was not sufficient reflects the exact argument the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park, a separate group, is using in court to prevent the Meadowcreek Parkway from being built through the park’s eastern side.
That group says the land conveyed by the city to the Virginia Department of Transportation by easement was illegal because it was also not approved by a supermajority vote.
Fenwick and others have written a letter to Virginia Attorney General Bill Mims to get an opinion, and the group is not ruling out legal action.
“This is not a 40-year lease, this is a lease forever,” Fenwick said, adding that the lease “is a way for the City Council to get around the constitution.”
City attorney Craig Brown said the article of the state constitution Fenwick cited does include a provision requiring supermajority votes for permanent land sales. But that does not apply to leases, he said. The constitution says that no lease for public property shall be granted for a period of more than 40 years.

“It does not require a three-fourths vote,” Brown said.
Assuming the law does not change, Brown said that at the end of 40 years, the city would not be able to renew its lease to the YMCA automatically, but would have to go through an entire process.
YMCA head Kurt Krueger said that the nonprofit realizes the land does not belong to the group. Sales are permanent, he said, but ground leases are not.
“The land under our lease is not transferred to us,” he said, adding that the city leases land frequently with simple majority votes. “It’s still city land.”
Randy Page, another member of the committee, said that the body is not against the YMCA and the services it provides to communities. Rather, he said, “this is not a good spot for them.”

The Boys & Girls Club has a similar lease agreement with the city — for 40 years at a cost of $1 annually — to build a new facility on the campus of Buford Middle School. Page said the location of the new club is ideal because of how close it will be to the youth it is designed to serve.
While local officials have argued that the new YMCA will be located close to Charlottesville High School and provide greater recreational opportunities for low-income youth, Page does not see it the same way.
“I just don’t see it serving the underprivileged people,” he said.