Oppenlander Property

Oppenlander Property September 2023 Update

West Linn voters passed Measure 3-582 in May 2022 (with 66.57% "Yes" votes tallied) to issue up to $3.5M in general obligation bonds to purchase the Oppenlander Property from the West Linn-Wilsonville School District as a City-owned park and construct parks capital improvements. The 10 acre property is located at 1275 Rosemont Road (map), and includes three ballfield areas primarily used by local youth sports groups. Election results can be found on Clackamas County's May 17, 2022 election page. 

Following passage of the May 2022 Bond Measure to purchase the Oppenlander Property as a City Park, the City of West Linn and the West Linn-Wilsonville School District have engaged in litigation regarding the Oppenlander Property on Rosemont Road. The District has filed a complaint in Clackamas County Circuit Court seeking to have the approved Purchase and Sale Agreement (details below) for the Property terminated, stating that a 2021 joint appraisal of the Property for $120,000 is invalid. The City filed a motion for summary judgment in an effort to resolve the issue without the expense of a trial, however this motion was denied in March 2023 by a Clackamas County Judge. Summary judgment allows for a decision to be reached without a formal trial if it can be established there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and the filing party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. The Judge reviewed documents, heard briefings and oral arguments from both parties and determined that questions of material fact exist and denied the City's motion for summary judgement.

The issue was scheduled to go to a jury trial in June 2023, but Clackamas County Circuit Court has notified us that the soonest a trial can be held is August 2024. We will continue to look for opportunities to reach agreement with the School District outside of Court proceedings before then. 

Background Information and Documents

Public Survey 

We asked the community to share their thoughts regarding potential City purchase of the Oppenlander Property as a park and what types of park improvements may be of interest. This survey closed on November 11, 2021. Input was shared with the Council for their November 15th, 2021 meeting.  You can find the results of the survey in the Council's November 15 agenda packet.

Purchase and Sale Agreement 

Council approved the formal Oppenlander purchase and sale agreement with the West-Linn Wilsonville School District at their December 13, 2021 meeting (agreement information). This document implements Council's previous agreement with the District, including the following key elements:  

• Purchase price will be determined based on a new market appraisal. The property was previously appraised at $6.5 Million earlier in 2021 based on unrestricted use under current residential zoning. The new appraisal came in at $120,000 with the park land restriction (designation as a park under Chapter XI of the West Linn City Charter).
• If voters do not approve the purchase, the sale contract will be terminated at no penalty to the City and the District will be free to work with other potential buyers. 
• If voters do approve the purchase, closing would occur by the end of November 2022.
• If voters do approve the purchase, the property will subsequently be formally designated as a park under Chapter XI of the West Linn City Charter, ensuring it is not used for other purposes without voter approval.  

Meetings

• The West Linn Wilsonville School District Board held a special meeting on February 4, 2022 to discuss the status of the Oppenlander Property. 
• City Council discussed the Oppenlander Property at their meeting on Monday, February 7th. The City Council gave direction to work together with the School Board to determine what the final valuation should be so that voters can decide whether the City will purchase the property.
• The West Linn Wilsonville School District held a special meeting on February 9, 2022 to discuss Oppenlander. The School Board passed a resolution at this meeting requesting renegotiation of the purchase and sale agreement with removal of the park designation and agreeing to sell to the City at the April 2021 $6.5M appraisal price. 
• City Council met on February 14th to respond to the School Board's proposal and review a Resolution and documents related to the ballot measure for the Oppenlander Property, the agenda and related documents are available here.  At this meeting the City Council passed Resolution 2022-04, calling a measure election to submit to the electors of the City the question of authorizing up to $3.5M of general obligation bonds to finance purchase of property for parks purposes and capital park improvements. The general obligation bonds result in the West Linn property tax levy rate increasing by an estimated 5 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value or an approximately $20 per year annual property tax increase for the average homeowner in West Linn with an assessed (not real market) value of $386,000.