Item B: Stream Corridor Acquisition Program

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Stream Corridor Acquisition Program Status Map 1 shows the priority stream corridor sites identified in the October 2001 Study and their status: acquisitions completed; sale pending; not available; and remaining potentially available sites. Since October 2001, 36.3 acres of stream corridors on eight sites have been acquired (coded blue on Map 1) for a cost to the stormwater fund of $1.2 million. Recently, the City and property owner signed an agreement on one additional parcel (coded purple on Map 1) that includes 5.5 acres of priority stream corridor at a cost to the stormwater fund of approximately $185,000. Much of the acquisition success to-date has been achieved through joint stream corridor and parkland acquisition. Experiences with implementing the enhanced stream corridor acquisition program have shown that negotiations tend to be very time consuming and do not always result in successful acquisitions. The cost for real property officer staff time for negotiations has averaged approximately one third of the stream corridor acquisition expenditures to date. Since October 2001, three potential acquisition sites have been developed and several sites have progressed well into the development process. The development review process has yielded varying degrees of waterway protection. Negotiations on several potential acquisition sites have been unsuccessful, for a variety of reasons. In some cases, the property owner is only interested in selling the entire parcel. In other cases, the owner desires to wait until a future development review process is completed before negotiating acquisition of the stream corridor (to ensure that the owner’s ability to develop is not compromised by the acquisition). In these cases, when acquisition negotiations occur after a development has been approved, the City has faced the prospect of purchasing entire lots at finished lot prices which has been cost-prohibitive. Approximately 6.7 miles of priority stream corridors are still potentially available for acquisition (coded salmon on Maps 1 and 2). Map 2 shows the remaining potentially available acquisition sites in relation to the sites that are protected by the recently adopted Goal 5 ordinance, and in relation to sites that may be protected by future water quality protections further described below. Most of the remaining acquisition sites have Metro Plan land use designations of “L” for low-density residential. Cost estimates vary widely, but for undeveloped low-density residential tract land, staff has seen recent appraisals of $37,000/acre (for hilly tracts) to $150,000/acre (for flat tracts). When the development process for a site has progressed quite far (at which time the owner/developer is confident that acquisition will not compromise the develop-ability of a site), and if the City desires more protection than what the owner/developer is required to provide through the development review process, the City may be faced with purchasing entire lots at finished lot values on the order of $8-$10/square foot (equivalent to $350,000 per acre assuming 8,000 square foot lots). Acquisition Funding Levels Historically, the funding level for “channel easement acquisition” was approximately $150,000 per year. The focus of “channel easement acquisition” prior to 2001 was to acquire rights-of-way or easements along drainage channels to facilitate access for maintenance purposes. Subsequent to the October 2001 City Council direction to proceed with an enhanced stream acquisition program, a portion of the stormwater fund balance was utilized to acquire eight stream corridor sites. The acquisition-related stormwater user fee increase was projected to go into effect beginning in July 2003, but with the July 2003 City Council decision rescinding support for the fee increase, the stream acquisition program funding level reverted to $150,000 annually. From July 2003 to present, negotiations on priority sites L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M060123\S060123B.doc