Developer told he owes higher park payment to Col. Falls
By NANCY KIMBALL
The Daily Inter Lake
Land in Columbia Falls is more valuable today than it was two or three years ago - let alone eight years ago.
California developer Ray Jones needs to understand that, the Columbia Falls City Council decided Monday night. A per-acre dollar figure is important when calculating the amount Jones will owe the city in place of building a park in a subdivision he wants to complete.
A council vote assured he will get that green light only if he and the city can come to terms on what his land is worth.
Jones is asking for final plat approval on the third and final phase of River Park Estates along the Flathead River south of Talbott Road.
The 13.3-acre, 15-lot phase lies southwest of the first two phases.
Preliminary plat approval for all three phases of River Park Estates came in May 1998. The first two phases won final plat approval before the preliminary plat expired in June 2005, but a change in land ownership helped push Phase 3 beyond that date.
That sent the project back to square one.
In January 2006 Jones got his new preliminary plat approved for the third phase and moved on to final plat application.
In that, Jones proposed using a 1998 appraisal to determine his cash-in-lieu-of-parkland payment - which amounted to about
$2,500. Major subdivision developers are required to establish a park or pay the city for its value that, in theory, can be used for parks elsewhere.
The city told him to provide an updated appraisal.
Jones came back with a value of $11,500 per acre, putting the cash-in-lieu payment at $7,863. But the comparable properties used in the appraisal had been sold in 2004 and 2005 and were not contiguous to city services available in River Park Estates.
"I'm troubled the most with the appraisal," council member Julie Plevel said. "Even though the appraisal was done in August 2006, that information is" outdated.
Jones' representative, Erica Wirtala of Sands Surveying, told the council that the appraiser adjusted for that factor. But, she added, the Bonneville Power Administration easements cutting through it, among other factors, make it difficult to appraise.
Plevel said her research turned up a comparable 10-acre riverfront property sold this year for $313,000, which would put the land itself close to a $30,000 value per acre.
City Manager and Planner Bill Shaw also showed the value of an acre in three recently platted subdivisions in the same general area - $16,000 in Glenn's Addition, $19,000 in Talbott Pines and $24,500 in Wildcat Estates less than a quarter-mile to the west on Talbott.
Shaw argued for setting the value at $19,000 per acre, bringing the cash-in-lieu payment to $12,920.
After discussion options to pay possibly $1,500 for a new appraisal or come to an agreement with Jones, the council voted unanimously for the latter.
They approved the final plat, contingent on Shaw and Jones agreeing in the next two weeks to a value of $19,000 per acre. If negotiations fail, the final plat approval is voided and the issue comes back to the council Oct. 16.
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com