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development in exchange for some or all of the property. <br /> Obviously, purchase of the property from a willing seller would be the <br /> preferable and likely least expensive option. However, the current owner has <br /> indicated that he would not sell the property for the amount indicated in the <br /> city's appraisal last fall. In fact, the current owner has indicated that his <br /> selling price would be somewhere around three times the appraised value. Of <br /> course, the city can not neglect its fiscal responsibilities to the public by <br /> paying an amount that could not be supported by an appraisal. However, a <br /> pre- filing appraisal and offer are required for condemnation proceedings <br /> (ORS 35.346), so the city should authorize a new appraisal at this time, even <br /> if council members don't believe that outright purchase is a reasonable <br /> possibility, given the reluctance of the current owner. <br /> The exercise of eminent domain powers, through condemnation proceedings, <br /> requires a city resolution defining a necessary public use. Public uses <br /> certainly include parks and open space, as well as stormwater drainage and <br /> Li, erosion control, wildlife habitat, and water protection efforts. The necessity <br /> is a legislative decision, and the city's resolution that the property is <br /> necessary to provide parks, open space, wildlife habitat, erosion control, <br /> stormwater drainage and water quality protections would be presumptive <br /> evidence of the necessity. Valuation of the "fair market value" to be paid in <br /> the condemnation process requires analysis of the property's "highest and <br /> best use." However, speculative uses are not considered. The use valued <br /> may be other than its current use "if it is reasonably probable that the <br /> property has actual potential for higher and better use." Dept. of <br /> Transportation v. Lundberg, 312 Or. 568, 574 (1992). The current owner's <br /> preliminary plans seem to indicate a desire for more than 100 residential <br /> units sprinkled throughout the property. However, given some of the unique <br /> characteristics of the site - extremely steep grades, significant wetlands <br /> and waterways across much of the site, and difficult access issues, among <br /> others - it is "reasonably probable" that the property's actual development <br /> potential is much closer to the seven units in the city's appraisal than the <br /> 100 -plus units in the landowner's speculative plans. The fact that the <br /> property was previously on the market for decades without attracting any <br /> significant interest from other developers further bolsters the assumption <br /> that much of the property remains undevelopable, as does the fact that two <br /> other PUD proposals in the same area have failed to pass muster. <br />