There's been concern that city officials might sell land around Hemlock and Canadice Lakes to developers. But a stronger bet may be that the state buys the land.

During the Rochester Sierra Club's annual Environmental Forum on April 19, city and state officials said they want to work together to preserve the land and lakes by putting them in the state's hands.

Rochester owns the lakes and much of their surrounding land, and the lakes provide water for the city and some suburbs. Rumors have been circulating that the city might sell at least some of the land. The rumors were fueled last week when Mayor Bob Duffy proposed having the land appraised.

At the Sierra Club's forum, however, Andy Beers, executive deputy commissioner of the state's Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, seemed to offer a sort of quiet reassurance about the land. "I want to say, in no uncertain terms, the protection of Canadice and Hemlock Lakes is a top environmental priority for this administration," he said. But, he said, the state will not negotiate any potential purchase in public.

The city bought the 7000-plus acres around the two lakes piece by piece between the late 1890's and the 1950's. With each purchase, it removed any structures and let nature take over. In some places, the city-owned land goes back only a few hundred yards from the shore, while in others it stretches back for acres.

In an interview last week, Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy said that selling the land to the state would be "the best of both worlds."

And in a separate interview, Deputy Mayor Patricia Malgieri said that initial contacts have been made with several state departments, including Parks and the Department of Environmental Conservation. No specific terms have been discussed, she said.

Duffy had asked City Council to approve his request for a "highest and best use" appraisal. Such an appraisal would consider the best economic use of the land as well as what is legally permissible. For instance, because the land is part of a watershed for a drinking-water source, the state Health Department requires that there be no development within 200 feet of the water.

At their April 17 meeting, councilmembers shot down his proposal. They shared the concerns of about 12 speakers at that Council meeting, some from the Sierra Club: that the appraisal might open the door to selling the land to developers. In an interview the next day, Duffy said that his push for an appraisal doesn't mean he is rushing to put the prime Finger Lakes real estate on the market. But, he said, not knowing the value of the city's assets is bad management.

"There have been stories circulating out there," said Duffy, "and some have made their way into the news, but I can tell you I have never had any conversations with developers, no one on my staff has been talking with developers, and in all of the conversations we've had with the county there has never been a conversation about selling to developers. Those are the facts."

Duffy said selling the land to developers isn't his goal, but he wouldn't say that the city would never do it.

To say that would be "irresponsible," he said, "because I don't know what the future will be like and I don't know what future administrations could face. But that is not our intention. My Number 1 goal is to keep those waters as pristine and natural and undisturbed as they are right now."

"I will say that I have had conversations with the state about purchasing them," Duffy added, "and that would be the best of both worlds if that could be worked out. But they have not taken any steps toward it."

The reference to the "highest and best use" in Duffy's appraisal request seems to have fueled some critics' concerns. And the mayor's plan received some influential support Thursday night at the Sierra Club forum. Jim Howe, executive director of the Central and Western New York Nature Conservancy, said he agrees with the city's "highest and best use" appraisal approach. The Nature Conservancy itself had the lakeside properties assessed a year and a half ago, he said, and it asked its appraisers to use the same method.

"It is something we're going to have to make happen in order to move forward," Howe said.

Beers agrees. Determining the land's value is a necessary step toward a state purchase, he said. The state will also order an appraisal of the land. And it will value it by its "highest and best use," too. That will include an assessment of what the land would be worth if it were subdivided for development.

Questions linger, however, over exactly what land and how much of it should be preserved and how it would be managed and protected.

Some environmentalists insist that any development on the hills surrounding the lakes could impact water quality. Runoff from the hills, they say, goes into the lake. On the other hand, Malgieri said she wonders whether flat land away from the lakes - on the other side of a road, for instance - plays any role in water quality.

For the time being, the land and the lakes will stay wild.

In a brief interview at the Sierra Club forum, former Livonia Supervisor Dan West said that a 1989 agreement between the city and Livonia protects the city-owned land along both lakes from development until at least 2029.

At the time, the city was preparing to build a water filtration plant for the Hemlock Lake water. In return for a big break on its "PILOT" --- its payment in lieu of taxes on the plant --- the city agreed to keep the lands wild and available for public use for at least 40 years. That agreement, which West helped negotiate, was approved by the state Legislature.

"With the new governor we have, the timing may be right" for the state to take over and preserve those lands, West said.

Malgieri said a number of PILOT agreements with other communities contain some sort of provision to preserve the land around the lakes. Whether those agreements would transfer to the state is not known, she said.

Beers said the state would pay taxes in some form on the property if it assumes ownership.

Tim Louis Macaluso contributed to the reporting for this article.