Ann Arbor won’t sell its parks.

I don’t know that for certain - since it hasn’t been put to a formal vote, as City Council is now required to do - but I’m on the list of people who don’t believe it will ever happen.

For one, the process would be unbearable. There will never be consensus on which park should be turned into non-green space.

And market forces will work against it, too. There’s not a lot of market right now for vacant land for anything.

But I did enjoy reading the Jan. 25 memo from Jayne Miller, soon-to-be-retiring community services area administrator, responding to issues raised at a December council retreat regarding the parks budget and future funding.

It’s an important topic, since it represents the city examining operating costs and revenue. We'll use the information to set city priorities as funding pressures continue.

But sell parks?

Twenty-three were identified as possibly warranting further exploration of a sale, out of over 160 city parks.

According to the memo: “Staff has done an initial survey of all 160+ parks in the system and has identified 23 parks where further exploration may be warranted. In some instances, the entire park might be saleable, while in other instances, a portion of the park might be saleable.”

The list includes part of the Arboretum - “possible University interest” - Mill Creek due to “low use” and Ellsworth Park, since it “(d)uplicates SE Area Park uses.”

Then there’s Dicken Woods.

The reason?

“Possible developer interest.”

So now, it’s 2010 and the city is considering what parkland it owns that might be worth more as development land.

And the answer is one of the properties that became a park because one developer thought it would be worth more as development land.

But that was back in 2002, when Crosswinds Communities wanted to build townhouses on the land. It had been listed for sale by the Catholic Diocese of Lansing, but neighbors were used to the green space and wanted to keep it development-free.

So they raised $50,000 toward the city’s purchase of the 10 acres for $550,000, and the city turned the property into a park - after beating out another potential uyer, the Ann Arbor District Library.

The presence of the AADL in that mix signifies just how different 2002 was from today. Back then, Washtenaw County was home to 1,826 single-family building permits and 445 condo permits.

A year later, both categories peaked at 1,955 homes and 562 new condos.

The thirst for buildable land seemed unquenchable. And the closer to Ann Arbor, the better, thanks to how rare it was to find land for infill development in the city limits.

Today, that’s no longer the case. In 2009, Washtenaw County had 146 new home permits, and only 26 for condos.

Ann Arbor’s government faces a multi-million dollar budget shortfall.

And one solution is to offer up Dicken Woods.

It’s never going to happen, I predict.

But there’s plenty of irony in that proposed scenario.

Paula Gardner is Business Director of AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2586 or by email.