If the Kent City Council chooses next Tuesday to back out of its controversial sale of Pine Tree Park, the housing developer buying the land plans to support the decision.
“We’re aware of the situation and we’re continuing to monitor,” said Brian Ross, CEO of Kirkland-based Oakpointe Communities, in a prepared statement Tuesday in response to questions from the Kent Reporter. “We consider Kent a good partner. If the council decides to move in another direction, we will support their decision.”
Ross declined to comment any further or answer specific questions about the park sale.
The council in September agreed to sell the 10-acre neighborhood park to Oakpointe for $2 million. The sale is scheduled to close in June. Oakpointe wants to build 64 homes on the property and the 4 acres it purchased from the Kent School District.
The council will discuss the sale of the property, near 114th Avenue Southeast and south of Southeast 277th Street, at a workshop at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15 at City Hall and plans to make a decision that evening about whether to sell the park.
City leaders decided to reconsider the sale after opposition to the sale from Pine Tree Park neighbors. Council members have come under fire from residents not only for selling the park, but because the city didn’t notify anyone about the deal until it posted a sign at the park in January about the proposed housing development.
Furthermore, Kent received the property from King County and residents have raised doubts about the legality of the sale. The county had bought the site through a Forward Thrust measure passed by voters in the late 1960s to create more parks and open space as development spread. The city annexed land in the 1990s that included the park, which the county turned over to the city.
When the city took over the park, part of the agreement with the county included that it could trade the land but it must be for property of equal or greater parks and recreation value or open space value. The council initially believed it could use sale proceeds to help upgrade other city parks.
Councilman Jim Berrios, who will be unable to attend the Tuesday workshop, said at the March 1 council meeting that he now favors keeping the park.
An attorney hired by the Save Pine Tree Park group said in a letter earlier this month to the council that the city should withdraw from the sale because of five alleged violations in connection with the sale.
City officials looked into selling the park four years ago as a way to raise money to help with repairs at other city parks because of financial shortfalls in the park budget.
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