City, developer negotiate new Fairgrounds Road deadline

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, December 9, 2006

Hearing date set in condemnation proceedings.

The Highlands developers may give the city of Langley a break on a vital deadline for the construction of Fairgrounds Road.

The parties are renegotiating a Dec. 1 deadline that would have left the responsibility of finishing the proposed connector road between Al Anderson and Langley roads in the hands of the city.

Langley had hoped to get a strip of the county fairgrounds before the deadline, so the Highlands developer could begin building the new road. But with the city fighting the county in court to get a piece of the fairgrounds property, the Dec. 1 deadline came and went.

The Langley City Council got a short briefing Wednesday on the status of Fairgrounds Road.

“We’re negotiating the Dec. 1 date. As it appears we can’t provide the fairgrounds portion for the road in a timely manner,” said Walt Blackford, city administrator.

Langley’s condemnation suit against the county won’t be heard in Island County Superior Court until early next year.

The city had put the Dec. 1 deadline in place to address concerns that the developer of the Highlands wouldn’t be “held hostage” if the dispute over the fairgrounds property needed for the new street stretched on and on.

Rick Almberg, president of RDA & Associates and the developer of the Highlands, had told the city earlier this year that it would be unfair and costly for them to wait for the dispute to be settled. Instead, the developers and city had agreed the city would finish building the road if the land dispute wasn’t resolved by the deadline.

Blackford said the developer’s schedule has slipped, and the developer is not prepared to build the road. That means the Dec. 1 deadline is no longer as pressing.

Since both parties are not on time, they are negotiating a new set of rules.

“We are in the process of renegotiating terms and conditions by which the applicant will be released from the obligation to build the eastern portion of the new connector road,” Blackford said.

However, there is also still a possibility that the developer would build the road depending on how the timelines of the developer and the city’s lawsuit unfold, Blackford said.

“In any case, the applicant will not be relieved of responsibility for paying an amount to be determined to the city as a contribution toward the cost of completing the eastern portion of the new road in the future,” he said.

The city is not certain of the total cost of the street at this point.

“My understanding is that the applicant will be submitting final drawings for the road tomorrow or early next week. Then they will have to be approved by the city engineer. The applicant can’t obtain a cost estimate until after the final drawings have been approved,” Blackford said.

Meanwhile, legal proceedings are slowly creeping forward.

An “use and necessity” hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Island County Superior Court.

It may be an important day in the condemnation process.

As the city is seeking to condemn property owned by the county, the court must decide whether the city’s use of the land will degrade or otherwise limit the existing use of the property. Currently, much of the land needed for the new road is a gravel road that enters the fairgrounds southern end; the rest of the route climbs a forested slope that is undeveloped.

“It isn’t a situation where we have to prove that our need or use is more important than the current use, but I believe we do have to convince the court that the uses currently enjoyed by the county will not be harmed or diminished,” Blackford explained.

While city officials maintain that the road and additional improvements to the fairgrounds offered by the city would enhance the county fair property, the fair board claims the road will make a small portion of the roughly 13-acre property unusable.

Langley officials have said the new road is needed to lessen traffic impacts from the Highlands and other development as the city continues to grow on its southern end.

The proposed road has received a mixed reaction on the South End; fair supporters oppose the road, while others, including residents and nearby property owners, want the new road built as planned.

Before the end of the month, the city will also depose Dan Ollis, the fair board chairman. The city’s legal counsel will ask the fair board chairman questions pertaining to the case on Dec. 27.

“The deposition of Mr. Ollis will be taken under oath and in the presence of attorneys from both sides,” Blackford said.

Depositions are standard practice in lawsuits.

The city filed a condemnation suit against the county in October after more than a year of failed easement negotiations with the fair association. The Island County Fair Association granted intervener status in the lawsuit Nov. 16.