Land Bank selling 4 commercial lots in Friday Harbor;
buyer must adhere to historic preservation standards
posted 03/13/2007
San Juan County Land Bank is inviting proposals from interested parties to purchase all four of its commercial-zoned lots located at the intersection of Argyle Avenue and Malcolm Street in the Town of Friday Harbor. The Land Bank hopes to sell all of the lots as one unit rather than separately.
A recent appraisal valued the four lots at $1,070,000. As the Land Bank is required to sell property at or above appraised value this is the minimum acceptable purchase price. In addition, adherence to the town’s historic preservation guidelines for new construction will be a condition of sale.
The two properties adjacent to Argyle Avenue are located in the town’s historic district. All four properties were acquired by the Land Bank to insure that future development would be consistent with the historic character of the neighborhood.
These lots have been part of the Land Bank’s Conservation Buyer Program since their purchase in 2003. As part of the program, properties can be sold provided their conservation values can be protected under private ownership. Only properties purchased under this stipulation can be resold. All other Land Bank-owned properties will remain in public ownership in perpetuity.
For further information on the property, please visit the Land Bank Web page for this property or call the Land Bank office.
Proposals will be evaluated by the San Juan County Land Bank Commission. The sale of the property will be approved by the San Juan County Council.
Please submit proposals to: San Juan County Land Bank, 350 Court Street No. 6, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 or contact Lincoln Bormann, San Juan County Land Bank Director, with any questions at 360-378-4402.
Land Bank Friday Harbor property for sale for $1 million
posted 12/12/2006
The 1.75 acre parcel on the corner of Argyle Ave and Malcolm St. in Friday Harbor has been appraised for $1,070,000. The Land Bank purchased three commercially-zoned lots three years ago for a total of $750,000 and has now decided to sell it as one parcel with restrictions. The buyer must conform to the town's historic preservation guidelines when constructing buildings on the property.
The Land Bank plans to advertise the property for sale. The minimum price is the appraised value. The sale will not necessarily be to the highest bidder. The Land Bank will want to see what the purchaser plans to do with the property. The Town of Friday Harbor will be consulted before the decision is made on who to sell the property to.
Adjoining property owners Lynn Danaher and Ron Boe have been interested in negotiating with the Land Bank but have been frustrated with a lack of progress. They presented a letter to the Land Bank Commission most recently on Dec. 8, 2006. The text of the letter follows this story.
Land Bank Executive Director Lincoln Bormann said, "We'd be happy to sell to them. What they are really asking us to do is subsidize their development. We can't do that. We've had a number of meetings...She comes back with the same proposal over and over again.
Asked if he'd be open to working with Boe and Danaher to come up with terms or payment arrangements which would be workable, Lincoln said he would be. "They'd need to come back with something different then what they've been giving us," he said. "I like their development. It is a great plan. It's well thought out and it will benefit the town."
Letter from Ron Boe and Lynn Danaher
Dear SJCLB Director and Commissioners, Dec 8, 2006
We together, Ron Boe and Lynn Danaher submitted a proposal on Jan 19, 2006, to the SJC Land Bank to trade the 4 commercially zoned lots owned by the Land Bank on the corner of Malcolm and Argyle. They have been owned since 2002. We wish to exchange the lots for land near the middle of our planned Argyle Neighborhood Development. The purpose of the trade is to create a park area, name it Centennial Park, and dedicate it in perpetuity to the Town of Friday Harbor, in celebration of their 100th anniversary. Centennial Park would feature both the history of Friday Harbor and the natural environment of San Juan Island. It would feature an historic display, natural landscaping and public restrooms all of which is certainly in keeping with cultural, historic and aesthetic purposes. You, the Commissioners, through Director Bormann have refused our offer of a trade and have instead made plans to sell the 4 lots for fair market value. We believe that this is a short sighted decision.
On your web page, the SJCLB mission specifically states "Using local public opinion as a guide, the commission and staff will work to identify and protect areas in the county with important... environmental,... historic and cultural importance." Additionally, "The following factors must be met for the Land Bank to pursue a project:" (item 5 states) "There must be general public support."
To date, the preponderance of unsolicited citizen comments with regard to this issue support the idea that the proposed trade not only fits within the SJCLB mission, but is highly desired by the local population, and would be an appropriate use of SJCLB assets. I have attached a petition of 47 names as a sampling, they were gathered last Feb in a 2 hour period. Precedent has been established; in 1998 the SJCLB approved acquisition of land in Lopez Village for open space, the SJCLB acquired Eastsound Park on Orcas and more recently a beach area in Deer Harbor to be used as a park. Therefore, we respectfully ask the SJCLB to reconsider its decision and postpone any sale of the lots in question until "general public support" has been adequately sampled.
Beyond the issue of public opinion, we also maintain that sale of the lots would be inappropriate because there has been an inequality of distribution of the monies spent to date on all SJCLB acquisitions in San Juan County. This is especially true in light of the recent commitment to spend $10 million to acquire Turtleback Mountain.
The only acquisitions to date within Friday Harbor have been the 4 commercial lots on the corner of Argyle and Malcolm as well as the Roark House historical easement, for an approx. total of monies spent within the boundaries of Friday Harbor of $875,000. Through Dec. 2006, the SJCLB has spent in excess of $32,600,000 acquiring both conservation easements and fee simple ownership on all the islands. $875,000 represents less than 3% of the total funds spent by the SJCLB, whereas the population of Friday Harbor represents over 12% of the total population of SJC. Based on the stated purpose of the SJCLB, the proposed sale of the lots on Argyle and Malcolm for "full market value" would go against the grain of public benefit, since the SJCLB will not only make a profit, but will further decrease their investment percent in Friday Harbor to less than ZERO percent, In addition the property taxes on the lots have been deferred since 2002. Therefore the SJCLB will be profiting, in effect, from land speculation on tax exempt real estate holdings paid for by the tax dollars of the citizens of SJCounty!!
In Summary:
The Trade: We propose to trade space within our Argyle Neighborhood Development for the SJCLB owned lots at the corner of Argyle and Malcolm for the purpose of creating Centennial Park within the town of Friday Harbor. The proposal calls for an equitable trade using comparative appraisals, construction bids and related costs for park improvements to determine equitable values for the trade. No design or historical easements would be part of the trade. We cannot move forward with incurring the costs of design, appraisals or construction bids until we receive a commitment from the Land Bank. Then we would need at least 1 year to complete the process.
The Current Situation: The Land Bank has turned down our proposal in favor of selling the 4 lots at fair market value. Which is currently appraised at over $1,000,0000. We disagree with the definition of purpose that Director Lincoln Bormann used to refuse our proposal This exchange is indeed keeping with the intent stated in all 4 points of the PURPOSE 16.54.010 In which it is stated in part;
A. "to preserve in perpetuity areas in the County that have aesthetic, historic, cultural values" a park area that preserves green space within the center of a historically accurate designed commercial district, specifically the Argyle Neighborhood, certainly has cultural and aesthetic values.
B. "solicit cooperation of local parks board and parks and recreation districts." This clearly makes the assumption that the concept of parks is a part of the LBC mission.
C. "LBC shall first consider conservation easements or other no fee interests to achieve the acquisition." A trade certainly would qualify under this provision as opposed to an outright sale.
D. "the Land Bank Commission shall seek to balance their acquisition recommendations of real property interests with the geographical locations from which the Land Bank tax revenues are generated." To date less than 4 % of the tax collected from the sale of Real Estate in SJC has been spent within the boundaries of Friday Harbor.
The Opportunity: After reviewing the facts, we are hopeful that you will honor public opinion and reconsider our proposal. We hope you agree to exchange the lots on Argyle for the future Centennial Park. Your enlightened decision will insure for future generations of islanders preservation of one of the last remaining open spaces in Friday Harbor.
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Boe and Lynn Danaher
Argyle Neighborhood Development
Roark house traded for property
posted 10/23/02
San Juan County traded the Roark house, a craftsman bungalow, on Argyle Avenue for $57,000 and an undeveloped piece of property. The house was purchased by the Land Bank which added a historical preservation easement to the property. Edward and Susan Schoonover traded a nearby lot valued at $228,000 to the county. The Roark house was appraised at $288,000 after a 10 percent discount for the historic preservation easement. The Schoonovers paid the difference of $57,000 to the county.
The undeveloped lot is located two lots down from the house and will enable the Land Bank to place historic preservation easements on the entire Argyle short plat.
Land Bank eyes Roark House
posted 05/15/02
San Juan County Land Bank proposes to purchase the 1913 craftsman bungalow located on Argyle Street in Friday Harbor. The house would be purchased and encumbered with a historic preservation easement and then resold.
The purchase price would be $380,000. The Land Bank staff estimates it would be resold for $260,000. A public hearing will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, May 17 in the community room in Islanders Bank Administration Building in Friday Harbor.
The 2,700 sq. foot house has had only three owners in its 88-year-history.
The Roark House is one of eight historic residences located on the Argyle Wagon Road, the oldest residential neighborhood in Friday Harbor.
New Land Bank projects total $1.5 million
posted 11/05/02
San Juan County Land Bank has $1.5 million in new projects in its proposed 2003 budget. Two on Orcas Island, one in the Town of Friday Harbor and two others on San Juan Island. The budget will be presented to the Board of County COmmissioners at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 5, 2002.
The 2003 new projects are:
- Lower Argyle Avenue Neighborhood Lots
Purchase price: $550,000
Purpose: acquisition and resale of the lots in historic Friday Harbor neighborhood
- Cady Mountain Acquisition
Purchase price: $760,000
Purpose: Purchase of 80 acres of forestland adjacent to the DNR Cady Mountain property
- False Bay Road Conservation Easement II
purchase price: $76,000
Purpose: acquisition of conservation easement to preserve scenic False Bay Road Property
- Buck Bay - West Conservation Easement
purchase price: $52,500
Purpose:purchase of a conservation easement to preserve scenic waterfront property
- Crescent Beach Acquisition II
purchase price: $35,000
Purpose: acquisition of interest in beach and tidelands on Orcas Island
The Lower Argyle Acquisition includes three lots approximately 1.25 acres total on the corner of Argyle and Malcolm. The Land Bank would place conservation easements on the property to restrict future uses and development that could compromise the historical and cultural integrity of the neighborhood. The properties would then be resold.
The Cady Mountain Acquisition involves the Wakazuru property located along Cady Mountain Road. The property consists of approximately 80 acres of wetlands adjacent to the Dept. of Natural Resources land.
The False Bay Road Conservation Easement II would drop the number of houses allowed on 40 acres of property from eight to two. The property is fronted on two sides by False Bay Road.
The Buck Bay - West Conservation Easement is located in Olga on Orcas Island. The property is 41 acres including 345 feet of high-bank waterfront and tidelands. San Juan Preservation Trust is negotiating to buy the parcel and intends to sell a conservation easement to the Land Bank.
The Crescent Beach Acquisition II involves 887 feet of waterfront, beach and tidelands on Crescent Beach. There is a commercial oyster bed operating on the tidelands now. The Land Bank wants to acquire the Gerard property interest. With this purchase the Land Bank would own 1,714 feet of Crescent Beach.
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