Sean C. Morgan
A split Sweet Home City Council voted last week to drop the asking price for the former Public Works maintenance facility on 9th Avenue.
The council voted 4-3 during its regular meeting on Feb. 13 to authorize staff to negotiate a sale price of not less than $250,000 for the sale of the riverfront property.
Voting yes were Bob Briana, Susan Coleman, James Goble and Diane Gerson. Voting no were Lisa Gourley, Mayor Greg Mahler and Dave Trask.
The city listed the property for $349,000 in June with Heritage NW Real Estate after the council voted to surplus the property in December 2016.
“The price appears a little high,” City Manager Ray Towry told councilors last week. The city has received one offer on the property, he said. It was less than half of the asking price. An additional unofficial offer was expected to be as equally low as the first.
The property, 1730 9th Ave., once housed Public Works management, engineering and maintenance functions.
The city’s old Water Treatment Plant, replaced in 2010, also was located on the property. The plant has been demolished, but an office building remains alongside a shop and open garage bays.
In October 2016, Powel Banz Valuation appraised the building at $250,000 and suggested listing the property for 10 to 15 percent more than that value, Towry said.
The Linn County real market value for the property was listed at $291,000.
Gourley said that all of a sudden she’s recently been seeing ads for riverfront property popping up on Facebook.
“Property like that doesn’t come up often,” Gourley said. “The feeling that I’m getting is that it’s (the original asking price) in the ballpark.”
Just a few blocks from Highway 20, the property offers views up and down the South Santiam River, she said. She was concerned about shortchanging the community – “This is their money.”
The original price is the equivalent of the library budget, for example, Gourley said. “It’s not costing us to let it sit there.”
Selling it for less, “we are literally giving away money that belongs to our community,” she said.
Gerson noted that the property is zoned residential, yet has buildings that do not lend themselves to a residential setting. “You’ll have to tear those down.”
That’s a limitation, she said. That’s “a lot of tearing out and knocking down.”
“It hasn’t been out there that long,” Gourley said. “It’s not draining our resources.”
Briana said he didn’t know if the city would find someone willing to pay $350,000, given the amount of money someone would have to invest knocking it down, noting that it’s “in not such a great neighborhood.”
Gourley warned that whatever it sells for is the level it will be taxed.
Goble said he agreed with Briana and didn’t see where someone would want to spend $200,000 to $300,000 to build down there just because it’s on riverfront property.
Gourley suggested it could be rezoned as commercial property.
Towry said that “spot zoning” is something that happens but probably isn’t the best idea, but being on a river could be a caveat to that comment.
Nicer pavement, sidewalks and lighting could make the property more inviting, but the neighborhood couldn’t afford that, Goble said as he moved to authorize staff to negotiate a sale price.