Clark County has made a move to purchase about 118 acres of the Cedars at Salmon Creek golf course land in an effort to protect the area’s environment.
During its Aug. 16 meeting, the Clark County Council voted unanimously to approve a purchase agreement to buy the land, valued at about $2.6 million. The purchase includes two miles of frontage on Salmon Creek, 133 acre-feet of annual water rights and property along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad.
The purchase of the golf course has been in the works for years. In 2019, the property owner approached the county about acquiring the land, Clark County Public Works Lands Manager Kevin Tyler said. Two years later, the county parks and lands division provided several options to the council who directed staff to begin outreach efforts to determine a final acquisition plan.
This April, the council approved the county’s six-year Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan, Tyler said. The Cedars property was identified in that plan.
Clark County Parks and Lands Division Manager Rocky Houston said the county initially looked to purchase all 133 acres of the golf course property. The approved sale did not include the course’s clubhouse or property making up the course’s 10th hole.
The purchase not including the course’s 10th hole sparked concerns from residents who were largely in support of the county’s purchase overall.
Leo Van Dolson, one of those residents, spoke on behalf of those who held concerns. Van Dolson noted 117 new homes to the southeast were sold as golf-course adjacent properties in the last three years.
“People were paying premium prices for some of this property,” Van Dolson said.
He asked if there was any potential for the council to reconsider the addition of that property into the purchase. Houston said the decision would stand.
“At this time, there isn’t an opportunity for us, really, to go back and try to work through it. We’ve got what we have,” Houston said.
Houston said he believes the owners are looking to develop the remainder of the land into large-lot homes.
Staff members are working on an interim management plan while the sale closes, Houston said, which he said would take around 30 days. That plan would focus on fire fuel reduction, waste management and signage to note what is public and private property.
The property will eventually have a master plan for its future use. Though that process has yet to begin, Houston said land by the railroad is under consideration as a trailhead for access to those who don’t live near the property.
The total purchase of $2,571,134 will be paid out through the county’s conservation futures fund. The county also allocated $600,000 out of the county’s clean water fund to address stormwater requirements, according to a staff report.
The conservation futures fund is a property tax levy in Clark County used to purchase properties for environmental protection through the county’s Legacy Lands program. Property in the program can’t be used for commercial development and is generally used as open space for passive recreation, Houston said. According to the program website, Legacy Lands can also provide critical habitat for protected species.
Tyler said the Cedars acquisition may eventually look similar to properties in the Salmon Creek Greenway on the west side of the county.
Houston said the city of Battle Ground, whose city limits run adjacent to the Cedars property, is supportive of the county’s plan.
Clark County Councilor Gary Medvigy said the purchase is “an absolute great use of conservation money.”
“I know we’re not going to make every resident happy. Change is awful, especially when you may have come to that area and retired, expecting to live on a golf course,” Medvigy said.
Medvigy said the properties adjacent to the course did not have a binding covenant that would restrict what development could exist on the course. He said he spoke to the property owners at length and noted the property existing as a golf course is economically infeasible.
“Because of the short season, its location and the small size of the course, it just would never pencil out. Tee fees would never support that as an ongoing entity,” Medvigy said.
Land-dependant uses like golf courses and others have been disappearing across the country, he said.
“We saw drive-in movie theaters go away because land just became too valuable,” Medvigy said.
Medvigy said purchasing the 10th hole and clubhouse land proved problematic given the cost of purchasing the building.
“Buying a clubhouse for $1 million isn’t really a conservation effort. It wasn’t going to do very well legally,” Medvigy said.
He is grateful the property owners approached the county with the opportunity.
“They could have just sold it all and developed it all,” Medvigy said.
Councilor Richard Rylander said the purchase is a positive move.
“It may not be an absolute 100% win for the surrounding area and homeowners, (but) I think it’s a substantial improvement over what could have happened,” Rylander said.
