Private land or public space?

By Matt Batcheldor
The Olympian

2/18/07

OLYMPIA, WA- A second Olympia family that doesn't want to sell its land for a city park faces condemnation of its property.

The city says it wants 3.69 of the 10 acres Sue Haskin and Errol Dye own at 3414 Mud Bay Road.

"We were absolutely devastated by this, by this whole proposal," said Haskin, director of community relations for the Tumwater School District.

The City Council was set to consider the item Tuesday, but it was pulled from the agenda Friday because members want more time to study the situation.

The council tabled an ordinance to take 1.72 acres of Carl and Susan Ott's land at its Feb. 13 meeting after the Otts and about 30 neighbors showed up to voice their opposition.

Associate Parks Director David Hanna said the council will study the item in a closed session Tuesday. State law allows the meeting to be closed because the topic is a real-estate transaction.

Hanna said the city wants Haskin and Dye's land for the same reasons it wants the Otts' land: Their neighborhood lacks parks, there are few undeveloped sites nearby, and theirs is the only land of adequate size that falls in the department's budget.

The city also must act before the end of the year or it will lose part of the bond money it's using to pay for parks acquisition, Hanna said.

"I think it would be fair to say this (land) is the best of what's available," he said.

Dye said the tree-studded land has been in his family's hands for more than 100 years, and they have no intention of developing it. He questioned the parks department's methods.

"How do you get a property for a nice public place? By taking it?" he said. "That's just not right."

Haskin and Dye's situation is almost identical to the Otts'.

Haskin and Dye received a letter in early 2005 asking them to consider selling their land to the city and to contact the city if interested.

They weren't, so they never called, Dye said.

Almost two years later, on Dec. 3, 2006, parks employee Dave Okerlund called Dye and reiterated the city's interest in the park. He said he had permission to "aggressively seek" the property, with condemnation as an option, if Dye wouldn't sell, Dye said.

Dye told Okerlund that the land wasn't for sale.

On Dec. 5, the couple received a formal letter from the city asking them to negotiate the sale of the property or it would be condemned.

Haskin said her neighborhood has plenty of parks and playgrounds. The 165-acre Grass Lake Park nearly abuts their fence line. Yauger Park is nearby, and playgrounds and athletic areas are at McLane, Hansen and Garfield elementary schools.

But Hanna said the parks department wants more; its goal is to have a park within a mile's walk of anyone in the city.

Hanna said the parks department has taken land by eminent domain once since he started in 1990, and there was no opposition. In that case, the city condemned a rail line to clear up ownership issues and build the Woodland Trail, he said. Land elsewhere

In separate, noncontroversial action during its Feb. 13 meeting, the City Council authorized paying the Olympia School District $144,000 to buy 2.21 acres for a park near 10th Avenue and McCormick Street.

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Family, Olympia at odds over pasture

Matt Batcheldor
The Olympian

2/14/07

OLYMPIA - After hearing from an Olympia couple and nine angry neighbors, the City Council voted Tuesday night to table an ordinance to take the couple's land by eminent domain.

The council will address the issue again at its meeting Feb. 27.

The city's parks department wants Carl and Susan Ott's 1.72-acre horse pasture on Boulevard Extension Road Southeast for a park, and it has threatened them with condemnation if they don't sell.

The city offered $387,000; Carl Ott said the land's not for sale.

'Like the school bully'

In an interview earlier, he said he feels powerless.

"That's kind of like the school bully when he wants your lunch money, but he's going to take it either way," said Ott, a doctor.

Ott and his neighbors have gathered 193 signatures of residents opposed to the park.

The land that the city wants doesn't include the Otts' house, which is adjacent to the pasture.

Parks officials say they want the land because the Otts' neighborhood lacks parks, there are few remaining undeveloped sites nearby and this is the only land of adequate size that falls in the department's budget.

"This measure is a last resort," Associate Parks Director David Hanna told the council.

Council members said they needed more time to consider the matter.

Mayor Mark Foutch read a letter from the Thurston County Commission expressing its "concern and dismay" and asking the city to refrain from taking action.

Hanna said in an interview later that the city has to act quickly because land values are rising dramatically, tripling in the past 10 years. It must also act before the end of the year or it will lose part of the bond money it's using to pay for parks acquisition, he said.

History

Parks officials say they tried to negotiate with the Otts. Carl Ott said that didn't happen. The city sent the Otts a letter Jan. 26, 2005, asking them to consider selling the land.

"If you are interested in exploring this concept further, please call me," parks program manager David Okerlund wrote in the letter.

Ott wasn't interested, so he didn't call.

The city's tone had changed almost two years later, on Dec. 5, 2006. That day, city staff phoned Susan Ott, expressing the city's desire to purchase the property. A day later, city officials sent the Otts a certified letter stating that the city wanted the property, and if it couldn't negotiate to buy it, it would start condemnation proceedings in 30 days.

On Jan. 30, the city sent the Otts a letter saying the condemnation ordinance would be taken to the City Council.

Carl Ott said the parks department should consider other properties and that there are more than 10 acres of privately held parks in the area. Ok erlund said private land in the area is steep and unsuitable for a park. Hanna said other area properties are too expensive.

Another property

The city also is considering condemning a second property, Mayor Mark Foutch said. Hanna would say only that the property is on the west side of the city and that the council will consider it at the meeting on Feb. 20.

The city's parks department has gone on a buying binge since September 2004, when 57 percent of Olympia voters approved a 3 percentage point utility-tax increase to pay for a major parks expansion program.

The measure increased the utility tax on natural-gas, electricity, telephone and cellular service from 6 percent to 9 percent. The fund generates $2.25 million a year, with two-thirds set aside for parks and the rest for sidewalks, the city says. After the measure passed, the city floated $9.34 million in bonds to buy parks.

It picked up one of those parks Tuesday night. In a noncontroversial action earlier in the council meeting, the City Council authorized paying the Olympia School District $144,000 to buy 2.21 acres for a park near 10th Avenue and McCormick Street.

Also, since 2004, the city has spent $5 million to buy four parks totaling nearly 23 acres, including an 11.7-acre park on the West Bay of Budd Inlet. It is negotiating to buy several others and aims to do so by the end of the year, parks officials say.