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.BRWN'ANS2.LTR Page 1 February 28, 1995 John H. Brown 1260 Charnelton Street Eugene, Oregon 97401 Dear John Brown: I received your letter of 2/21/95 this week and want to respond to the three that still concern you. 1. I have no disagreement about the value of a 10,000 square foot lot in your neighborhood. The issue is, however, whether an oversized lot has that same square foot value as the smaller one. The question we put to staff at A & T was how they were valuing the back portions of oversized lots. On two separate staff inquiries several weeks apart we were given the figure of $.50 per square foot for the oversized area. We did not ask at what point, or square foot threshold, a lot becomes oversized; we did assume that if extra land was attached to an existing lot that the new total area would likely be considered an oversized lot. Why would we sell something for less than we would pay for it? Whether you consider lease or sell, the situation is that the City has a piece of land that exceeds size standards for a neighborhood park, and has determined that a portion of it can be declared surplus. Turning the tables, if the City were interested in expanding the park, and an adjacent owner had a parcel without street frontage that only the City could buy, the owner would be at the mercy of whatever the City offered. At that point it is a question of which principles prevail: Do the owners hold out for prices common to land which is open to market forces, or do they negotiate for the best deal possible with the only possible buyer(s) - -the adjacent land owner(s). For the City to follow the latter course, we dispose of land we deem surplus, it is returned to the tax rolls, and whatever sales proceeds we get can then be applied to purchase new sites in Willakenzie where they are lacking. 2. The lease rate, estimated at the $468 figure, currently seems like a bargain. The cost to the owner, after property taxes are fully affected by the tax limitation measure, will be that same amount, making an annual burden of $936. At the time that A & T determines that land in excess of normal lot size is valued at, say, $.75 per S.F., both the lease rate and tax rate would combine for a total of $1404 per year. Even such an increase would leave the City below what it would have to pay if it were attempting to expand at a competitively priced location. The rational for accepting less is that there are no other parties who can force the market price. 3. We agree with your assessment on the zoning issue on the proposed Greer exchange. We want to complete the survey work, and state our commitment to support a zone change at such time as other issues cause the Willakenzie Plan to be amended. The lack of funding means there is no urgency to complete the exchange.