Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner Kelso City Councilman David Futcher believes the city-owned property between the Cowlitz River and the golf course will someday attract a buyer wanting to erect condominiums, but that day isn't here yet. |
Condos or Kids?
Tuesday, November 15, 2005 7:30 AM PST
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe Kelso Soccer Club wants to build a soccer field complex on a chunk of city-owned property along the Cowlitz River across from Three Rivers Golf Course, sparking a debate among city officials over whether to wait for a buyer to come along and build condominiums on the vacant, sandy lot.
The soccer club needs a land-use agreement with Kelso before it can apply for a grant from the U.S. Soccer Federation to construct the fields, said Philip Dahl, soccer club board president. In addition, the Soccer Federation grant would require the fields to remain in place for at least 10 years.
While acknowledging a critical need for additional soccer fields to accommodate the 500-plus local players, some Kelso City Council members are hesitant to turn over the undeveloped 9-acre parcel to the soccer club because of its potential real estate value.
It's only a matter of time before an investor buys the land for riverfront condominiums, councilman David Futcher said at the Nov. 1 council meeting.
"I am a little bit torn," he said Monday. "I think (the soccer fields) would be a neat project; I just really like that piece of property. Condos next to a golf course just seems to make a lot of sense. ... I just want to be sure we're doing the best thing for the city and using that piece right."
The club also asked the city for a 3-acre parcel less than a mile north on River Road, which the Manasco family gifted to the city for soccer fields. Tonight, the council will decide whether to honor all or part of the soccer club's land-use request. If the council allows the club to build fields on the larger property, it must negotiate an agreement for the land to be turned back over to the city after 10 years.
If the city agrees to it (and if the soccer club wins grant money), the club would build three full-size fields on the 9-acre parcel, with adjacent parking. On the Manasco property, the club would construct six small fields and one mid-size field, for players ages 6 to 11. The entire project would cost about $284,000.
Younger soccer players currently use the outfields of Tam O'Shanter Park's baseball fields for practice and games. Older players use the full-size fields at the nearby Coweeman Middle School and the dike field, according to Kelso Soccer Club officials. The problem is, with an increasing number of kids signing up for baseball and soccer, scheduling conflicts for using the fields have arisen, they said.
A soccer complex could allow for 20-team tournaments and have a $100,000 impact on the local economy over just three days, said Troy Oestreich III, the soccer club's director of special projects. And, he said, with so many talented young soccer players in Kelso, "it's time to foster that and give them a chance," he said Monday.
Based on the price per acre for which an adjacent parcel to the north claimed in a recent land sale, the city parcel would have a minimum value of $207,000 and could fetch as much as $400,000 because of its waterfront view, according to city documents.
However, City Manager Doug Robinson told the council there hasn't been much buyer interest in the lot. The property lacks water and sewer lines and is accessible only from the two-lane River Road, which crosses the railroad tracks at Yew Street and cannot handle heavy traffic, Robinson said.
City officials are also looking ahead to the addition of a third railroad track in the next five to seven years, which would require construction of a pedestrian crossing and maybe an underpass at Yew Street, providing safer and easier access to River Road.
Oestreich, 38, said if the city approves only the Manasco fields but not the 9-acre parcel, "We can't get where we need to be."
The club would have to find land outside city limits, which would mean "the Kelso soccer club is no longer Kelso pride and associated with the city. It's a county thing," he said.
Grouping the older and younger kids' fields in the same vicinity would be convenient for parents with kids on different teams, Oestreich said. In addition, the soccer club's grant proposal included both parcels of land, he said.
He'd have no problem signing a 10-year land-use agreement, he said.
"We can bring a lot of value to the youth of Kelso in 10 years," he said.
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