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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2018)
OCTOBER 26, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7 School board will vote on 24J: ‘That would have a very detrimental impact’ eminent domain Nov. 13 (Continued from Page A1) By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes No one gave public comment at Tuesday’s Sa- lem-Keizer school board meeting, regarding the dis- trict using eminent domain to acquire 6.18 acres of va- cant land from St. Edward Catholic Church in order to expand McNary High School. The item was presented as a first reading with staff recommending the board adopt the resolution at its Nov. 13 meeting. The existing site of Mc- Nary owned by the dis- trict is fully developed and GROWTH, continued from Page A1 City of Donald to the list. “Donald expanded 80 acres last month and they worked together with all their partners,” Carnahan said. The partners mentioned were some of the same ones that opposed other attempts to expand UGBs. If all those hurdles were cleared, Keizer would still need to decide whether expansion was worth the cost. Any new land would need to be hooked up to water, sewer and power grids and that would likely mean an increase to system additional land is needed to achieve the goals of ex- panding the existing school buildings, reconfiguring the traffic circulation pattern, meeting parking require- ments and relocating ath- letic fields. When asked by a mem- ber of the school board what would happen if the district didn’t acquire the land from the church, Mi- chael Wolfe, the school dis- trict’s chief operations offi- cer, said the district would have to look for 6 acres elsewhere, and while part of the process is to minimize disruption, one option for development charges (SDCs), which would drive up costs of any new homes and might scare away investment. Bolen noted that Keizer's existing SDCs are already “surprisingly low.” Bolen said there are two dominant schools of thought on growth. The first is that growth should pay for itself. The second is that investing in growth pays off over time in taxes on new and redeveloped property. However, with Keizer's frozen property tax rate of a little more than $2 per $1,000 of assessed value, recouping costs would likely take years. the board to consider is ac- quiring nearby residential neighborhoods. Without the McNary expansion, Wolfe said, “We don’t meet the goals that were stated to the commu- nity when we introduced the bond.” The school district be- lieves there are opportu- nities to still find common ground with St. Edward but an agreement to pur- chase the property must be reached by Dec. 15 in order to complete the renovations on time—end of August, 2019. One of the few silver linings in Bolen's report was that Keizer could absorb about half the expected housing need by simply upzoning multifamily properties near River Road to commercial mixed zones. While the city could change the zones with relative ease, attracting reinvestment might prove more difficult. “That might require catalytic projects where the city puts some skin in the game – gets concessions from developers – and proves the market for other investment,” Bolen said. “Even though it wouldn't change the city overnight it would change the city over time.” KT-01 ACROSS FROM STARBUCKS 4930 River Rd N - Keizer ® 503-371-8188 CCB#222960 TANDEM Luxury Vinyl Plank by TAS Flooring ® Attached Pad. Waterproof, 20 Colors, Micro-Beveled Edges, Low Gloss -Embossed, ® SENSATIONAL Carpet by Dreamweaver All the softness you love, now in your carpet. 3 * sq yd $ 2 9 * / $ 99 * / sq ft *Material Only, Installation available. ** Installation included with 8lb. cushion. TO RECEIVE THIS PRICE CALL & MENTION THIS AD for the purpose of expanding the school. “The school and the church have always been great neighbors and we started with talks about purchasing a portion of the land and maybe leasing other parts. They've had more time to think about it and now they don't want to sell their land,” Wolfe said. Wolfe said the district’s first choice has al- ways been to purchase the land outright, but that was never a consideration for St. Edward's leadership, said Rev. Gery Zerr. “We had some preliminary discussions with the district about potentially selling or leasing a portion of the parish’s property. But we were never interested in selling all of the bare land that the district now wants to acquire. That would have a very detrimental impact on the parish’s future,” Zerr said. Zerr said the school district came forward with an “unacceptable appraisal of the bare land, far below the fair market value.” He add- ed that no written offer for lease or purchase was ever made. “In our view, the district’s discussions were not made in good faith. Then, this past sum- mer, the district told us that it wants to acquire all of our bare land. The district also told us in no uncertain terms that the parish has no choice in the matter – if we refuse to sell, the district will sue us and take 6.18 acres by emi- nent domain,” Zerr said. In addition to Zerr, the St. Edward church business manager and chair of its facilities de- partment have been included in the evaluation of the district's proposals. The school board held a reading of a reso- lution of necessity, the first step in starting em- inent domain processes, at its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 23. School board members will vote on any next steps at its Nov. 13 meeting. School District Spokesperson Lillian Go- vus was unable to comment on what led to the breakdown of negotiations, but added that construction at McNary for bond-paid im- provements is still planned for 2019. “We began negotiations nearly a year ago, so it was our hope that they would have been completed by this time,” Govus said. The six acres being targeted for the eminent domain process would become softball fields and tennis courts, but it’s essential to expanding the number of classrooms, which is displacing existing fields and parking space. Reconfigur- ing parking is one of the highest priorities lead- ing up to the bulk of the construction effort. The district's goal is to establish a new traffic flow by the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. Keeping on track will require a deal for the church-owned land to be struck by Dec. 15, 2018. Wolfe said the intent of the move is not to throw the church or its leadership “under the bus” but the district intends to move quickly to stay on its bond-funded construction schedule. If the eminent domain process is successful the church would still be compensated. Zerr said the move toward exercising emi- nent domain was disappointing on several lev- els. “The parish is disappointed with the school district’s approach on this matter, as we have always supported McNary and have been a good community supporter in the past. We are praying for a peaceful resolution, but we will, of course, have no choice but to defend our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights if the dis- trict follows through on its threat to sue us to take our property,” Zerr said. The last time the school district used em- inent domain processes to obtain land for schools was during the construction of Straub Middle School and Kalapuya Elementary School in West Salem. DOMAIN, continued from Page A1 meeting, and board members approve moving forward, the eminent domain process be- gins in earnest. At that point, either as part of the meeting or shortly af- terward, the district will make an offer for the land based on an appraisal of its fair market value. St. Edward’s leadership will then have 40 days to ac- cept or reject the offer. If the offer is rejected, the matter will go to trial in civil court or into arbitration. Once the courts or an ar- biter are involved the church will have the opportunity to present a competing appraisal. WorshipDirectory These Salem-Keizer houses of worship invite you to visit. Call to list your church in our Worship Directory: (503) 390-1051 KEIZER CLEAR LAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH a member of Open Door Churches of Salem-Keizer REV. ALYSSA BAKER, Lead Pastor Services are Sunday at 10 am (Nursery & Sunday School for Children) 7920 Wheatland Rd N • 503-393-2402 • www.kclumc.org PEOPLESCHURCH 4500 LANCASTER DR NE | SALEM 503.304.4000 • www.peopleschurch.com Father Gary L. Zerr, Pastor Saturday Vigil Liturgy: 5:30 p.m. Sundays: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. La Misa en Español: 12:30 p.m. SUNDAY SERVICES 4505 River Road N, Keizer • 503-393-4507 www.FLCkeizer.org Sunday School - 9:00 am Worship Service -10:00 am 452 Cummings Lane North • 393-0404 8:30 am • 10 am • 11:30 am • 6 pm Faith Lutheran Church , ELCA Pastor Linda Matz Easterling John Knox Presbyterian Church JOIN US FOR SUNDAY WORSHIP 9:00 am Children’s Programs, Student and Adult Ministries 1755 Lockhaven Dr. NE Keizer 503-390-3900 www.dayspringfellowship.com and 10:45 am www.KeizerChristian.org Rev. Dr. John Neal, Pastor Worship - 10:30 a.m. Education Hour - 9:15 a.m. Nursery Care Available www.keizerjkpres.org
