Wildish Measure 37 claim wins OK.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

The Lane County commissioners' approval Wednesday of a sweeping Measure 37 claim by Wildish Land Co. could hurt the county's leverage as it decides whether to buy the company's land and preserve it as a park, a land use advocate said.

But county officials say government condemnation powers and the company's cooperative stance will ensure that the public pays a fair price for the land.

Commissioners voted 4-1 to waive restrictive land use rules on almost 1,400 acres that Wildish owns near Mount Pisgah south of Springfield, siding with the company's argument under voter-approved Measure 37 that the rules hurt property value.

The Wildish claim is the biggest, in acreage and alleged lost value, of almost 400 Measure 37 claims filed by property owners in Lane County.

But the real question on the Wildish case is what happens next: The company wants to sell the land to the county for $26 million as a park, and the county is mulling that offer.

The commissioners' approval of the claim gives the company the right to seek to build hundreds of houses on the site, which until now, under long-standing land use rules, had been limited to mining, logging and agriculture. That new development potential puts extra pressure on the board to buy the land at the company's price in order to protect it, said Rob Zako, a land use advocate with 1000 Friends of Oregon.

"Wildish has a right now that they didn't before - they have the right to subdivide into small parcels," said Zako, who opposed the claim. "They can argue the land is worth more and if the county doesn't buy it soon, Wildish will develop or sell to a developer and the opportunity (to preserve it) will be lost."

Randy Hledik, Eugene-based Wildish's general services director, said Wildish is "very hopeful" that the land can be purchased for a park. But he added, "if that doesn't work out, we are prepared to proceed with plans to develop the land."

A team of county staff members is reviewing the purchase offer and working with public agencies that might provide the money to buy the land.

Eugene-based consultant Jim Johnson, who the county has hired to head the team, said he's confident that Wildish wants to sell and will work with the county.

Commissioner Bill Dwyer, board chairman, also rejected the notion that the county lost leverage by approving the claim, noting that the county retains a powerful tool: The power of eminent domain.

If the county and Wildish ultimately fail to agree to a purchase price, the county could condemn the land and a court would set the price, Dwyer said. He hopes an amicable negotiation will be conducted, but he cautioned that "the government has the last say in this thing."

"I hope (Wildish) will negotiate in good faith and they'll set a value on it that we can both live with," Dwyer said.

Dwyer has accused Wildish of using the Measure 37 claim to try squeeze extra value out of the land after decades of mining it for profit. He voted to approve the Wildish claim, saying the county had little choice, but blasted the measure.

"I think Measure 37 sucks," Dwyer said. "I don't think (Wildish) has been deprived of anything. But you know what? I have to obey the law."

Commissioner Peter Sorenson voted against the claim, saying that staff failed to thoroughly analyze it and that it wasn't justified.

Hledik, of Wildish, said it's common in the gravel industry for companies to convert former sites for another use and that state law encourages it.

"We feel there was an inherent right in the property that was diminished over time," Hledik said. "We had a right to build after the sand and gravel was extracted, and that's all we sought - the right we originally had."