A proposal to have about 3.6 acres of city-owned potential park land sold to build homes on Kent Street near West Seventh Avenue was rejected Tuesday by the Kennewick City Council.

The change of zoning recommended to convert from an open space designation to high-density zoning failed on a 5-1 vote Tuesday night.

"The open space could be useful in an area that has so much high-density (apartments) now," said Councilman Tom Moak who led the opposition.

His protest to the zoning change prompted similar comments from councilmen Jim Hempstead and Paul Parish, and won the backing of the rest of the council except Bob Olson who alone voted for the change.

Russ Burtner, director of municipal services for Kennewick, said the city has owned the undeveloped property for decades, but it has been declared surplus. Staff now believe it isn't needed for future park development.

He said the land is surrounded by apartments and a few single-family homes.

Changing the zoning to high-density residential would be consistent with the surrounding development, Burtner noted.

Habitat for Humanity has expressed an interest in buying the land to build 30 homes, a community garden and a community open space.

The property also has become a problem because it is a convenient place for nearby renters to dump unwanted couches and mattresses, Burtner said.

In other business Tuesday, Moak said he wants to see better achievement of goals by the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership if the city gives $50,000 to the group to help improve downtown next year.

Moak voted with the rest of the council to renew the contract and the $50,000 contribution, but said he thinks the partnership should show more progress in achieving its goals. Revitalizing properties along the Columbia River in the area known as bridge-to-bridge should be a top priority, he said.

City Manager Bob Hammond agreed with Moak, noting that city staff can do a better job of monitoring the situation downtown.