Jackson County staff outlines plan to sell 7.6-acre unused parcel near Highway 140

At a Jackson County Board of Commissioners work session on Sept. 1, county staff described steps to sell an undeveloped 7.6–7.8 acre parcel that was transferred from ODOT in the 1970s with a deed restriction limiting use to public parks and recreation.

"They did appraise at about a $160,000," said Steve Lambert, the county’s director of roads and parks, summarizing an ODOT appraisal the county received. Lambert said the county originally paid 50% of fair market value when it acquired the land and that ODOT now expects 50% of current fair market value to release the restriction — roughly $80,000 of proceeds in the proposed sale. Lambert also described on-site constraints including an old well, a decades-old septic system and a collapsed outbuilding.

Lambert told commissioners the parcel has never been developed for recreation and instead has become a liability in recent years because of illegal dumping, occasional camping and heavy blackberry growth that creates a fire risk. He said the county opened escrow to coordinate title work, ODOT’s requirement to be paid half the proceeds, and verification of legal access from the frontage road adjacent to Highway 140.

County staff explained that because the board formally dedicated the land for park use in 1975, state law requires a public process — including a public hearing and findings that disposal is in the public interest — before the board can remove the designation and convey the land. Staff said they are coordinating timing with ODOT and expect a public hearing probably in mid to late September, at which the board could receive comments and consider action.

If the sale proceeds are received, state procedure requires those funds be used for public parks operations, maintenance or improvement, staff said. Commissioners discussed the parcel’s visibility from Highway 140 and general agreement that returning funds to parks could be preferable to retaining an unused, occasionally misused parcel.

The board took no final action on the sale during the session; staff will return with a public hearing and the statutory findings required for disposal.