Washougal schools put plan to buy 31-acre property on hold

WASHOUGAL — The Washougal School District is reconsidering its plans to acquire a 31-acre property for a future school site after neighbors raised concerns.

The district has negotiated a six-month extension to its option-to-purchase agreement with Woodland-based Kysar Development, which originally expired Dec. 31. The district now has until June 30 to exercise the option. The district has had a purchase option on the property since 2020.

“The whole point of getting the extension is to make sure we have all the information that we feel like we need to make a decision,” Interim Superintendent Aaron Hansen said while walking the property on a rainy early January afternoon.

Residents who oppose the purchase have expressed concerns about the property being brought into Clark County’s urban growth area.

“We would like you to reconsider your resolution,” Washougal resident Robin Lown said at a Dec. 11 board meeting. “Specifically, we’re wondering if due diligence was done by the board or whoever is making this decision whether or not that is a good purchase.”

In October, the Washougal school board approved a resolution to purchase the property, 2400 S.E. 341st Court, Washougal, for $1.025 million with funds collected through impact fees charged to new developments.

Hansen said buying the property now, while the property is available, would save the district money in the long run. The district envisioned something along the lines of the Jemtegaard/Columbia River Gorge Elementary campus.

“The (school board) is looking out decades, not for what we need next year,” board member Jim Cooper said.

The school district’s most recent six-year capital facilities plan, adopted in 2022, identifies the site as needed for a future school. The plan says the district’s facilities are sufficient at all schools except Hathaway Elementary.

Hansen said the construction of a new school could be 10 to 15 years out.

The property cannot be used as a school until it is included in the urban growth area. The school district issued a request to the city and Clark County to bring the property into the growth area in February 2023.

Hansen told The Post-Record in October he was confident that the property would be brought into the boundary. Two months later, he sounded less certain.

“Talking to some of the neighbors … it depends on who you talk to and who they’ve talked to,” Hansen said. “I haven’t had any direct communication with anyone within the county, other than the biologist who did an assessment on this property. I am still optimistic, but I can’t control it.”

Washougal resident Megan Light does not believe the property will be brought into the growth area, noting failed attempts by current property-owner Kysar in 2016 and 2020.

“The county has already denied this developer twice,” Light said. “So unless the school or the city knows something that we’re not privy to, I don’t know why they would approve it.”

‘Numerous concerns’

In a December email to Clark County Council members, Washougal resident Rick Jarchow said he and several of his neighbors “have numerous concerns” about the school district’s plan to purchase the property, including a perceived lack of transparency; the listed sale price; how the property fits — or doesn’t fit — into the county’s urban growth boundary; the school district’s declining enrollment; previous attempts to rezone the parcel; possible environmental impacts; and the lack of infrastructure surrounding the property.

“We do not take issue with Kysar for trying to sell their property,” said Jarchow, speaking on behalf of nearby residents who have formed an group called the Lehr Neighbors Coalition. “We have learned that the school board did not receive all of the information that was available before making a decision to purchase, and the city of Washougal hastily applied for a UGB amendment.”

Light said she and her neighbors are concerned that, if the property is brought into the growth area, the school campus wouldn’t be consistent with the neighborhood or could overwhelm the rural neighborhood, which is largely made up of larger homes on big parcels.

Hansen said the concerns took him by surprise.

“It goes a little further than I thought, as far as who feels impacted by this decision,” Hansen said. “And then you get into some of the things that I wasn’t really thinking about. What does it mean if the property’s in the UGA? What does it mean for the people that are here, who purchased their property with the idea that their acres and this level of isolation, or what they were pursuing when they purchased it?

People move out of cities for a reason, Hansen said, noting, however, that there aren’t many properties available for a large school campus.

Hansen said the school district wants to have better communication with residents moving forward.

“Some of them (say) that we’re not being transparent, or that we’ve been secretive,” Hansen said. “I think we’re being more communicative about it now and trying to hear the concerns, acknowledge those concerns.

The decision to extend the purchase-option agreement will allow the school district to conduct additional assessments of the property, focusing on environmental impacts, Hansen said.

“We want to make sure there’s no surprises,” he said.