CKSD may use eminent domain to acquire property

SILVERDALE — Central Kitsap School District board members want to purchase two parcels of land adjacent to the CK school campus in order to build a new CK middle school and high school.

The owners of the property, however, do not want to sell. At least, not for less than $1.2 to $1.6 million, according to CKSD.

CKSD said the property was appraised in November at $400,000.

LEFT: A new high school and middle school is planned to be built in the center of the CK campus. RIGHT: A yellow line shows the location of a privately owned 20-foot easement, and the blue box shows the location of a privately owned 2.75-acre property.

Willard and Veniza Seward own the forested property, which is used as an adult family home-care facility.

“I understand you guys have a big job of trying to educate the young people, and I can appreciate that because you teach them to grow up to be responsible adults,” Willard told board members April 13.

“But on the flip side of that, my job … is that once they have gotten old, someone has to take care of them.”

“My land isn’t for sale. We do not wish to start over. If I have to fight you to hell and back to keep my property, I just want to let you know,” he said.

[RELATED: CKSD presentation (pdf) ]

The new high school and middle school are planned to be in a combined building that would be built in the center of the campus, right next to the two privately owned parcels, known as 3898 Windy Ridge Lane.

One parcel is 2.75 acres with a home on it. The other parcel is a road (20 foot easement) that leads to the home.

Veniza Seward said her property was purchased for use as an adult family care business.

“We are licensed for four beds. We live in the home. It’s a 24/7 service to the community … This is my life. This is what I wanted to do,” she said.

“One day, one of your loved ones will need this assistance. There are only 57 adult family homes in Kitsap County and it’s actually decreasing because of the demands.” She said businesses like hers were a better alternative to nursing home facilities, where she said people were “just sitting there, no quality of life.”

“If that’s what you want, go ahead … take my property away.”

Grant Holdcroft told the board that his mother-in-law lives at the property. “I just want to vociferously object,” Holdcroft said.

Newell said CKSD asked the Sewards about selling the property in January 2015. In June 2015, the Sewards told the district they were willing to sell their property for $1.6 million, Newell said.

The district then conducted an appraisal in November and the property was valued at $400,000. Newell said the appraiser was not able to inspect the interior of the dwelling.

The district made a written offer in January for $400,000 and offered to revise the appraisal after conducting an on-site inspection. The district also offered relocation assistance and to pay all the closing costs.

In February, voters approved a $220 million bond to build a new high school and middle school and upgrade other buildings.

Newell met with Mr. Seward on March 10 and talked for more than an hour. Seward said improvements had been made to the home and Newell offered to increase the value of the district’s offer to enable them to purchase a new home and make necessary improvements to become and adult family home.

“I offered to help with locating a home, assist with the county and state to ensure timely permitting,” Newell wrote in an email to the Reporter. “I also stated that we were flexible in timing … and that they could stay in the home on Windy Ridge, paying only a nominal fee for rent ($1/month) until their new home could be converted/upgraded. Basically the school district offered to assist with all the steps necessary … and make them whole.”

Newell said the Sewards replied, stating they wanted the district to purchase a second home, pay off their mortgage and compensate for loss of business, eventually giving a sales price of $1.2 to $1.6 million.

“As you can imagine, I could not commit the school district to pay more than $1 million for the home,” Newell wrote.

The CKSD board voted unanimously April 13 to authorize eminent domain proceedings in order to acquire the two parcels.

The resolution states in part that, “sustained efforts to negotiate with the owner of the subject property have been made and will continue, and eminent domain action will be taken judiciously in the event that reasonable efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with the property owner are not successful.”

Schools are legally allowed to use eminent domain as part of Washington state law. The process of eminent domain has been in use in the U.S. since the 1800s and ties in with the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

CKSD purchased the parcel for the current CK high school in 1923 and made additional purchases of adjacent land in 1941, 1956, 1967, 1975, 1990 and 2014 (see map).

The issue set off a firestorm debate on the internet about private property rights and eminent domain. Internet commentators questioned why the district did not purchase the land prior to putting the bond out for a vote. David Beil, CKSD director of community relations, said, “When the district put the measure on the ballot, the owners had expressed an interest in selling the home.”

However, the district did not have an agreement signed.

Audio related to this story:

0:00 Doug Newell talks about the background of the issue.

5:20 Grant Holdcroft’s comments.

7:15 Willard Seward’s comments.

8:20 Veniza Seward’s comments.

This story was updated April 21 to match what appears in the print edition.

In other news:

• Kirstin Nicholson, president of the Central Kitsap Education Association, wanted the board to be aware that some people were misusing social media on the internet to post pictures of teachers with text added underneath the image. Nicholson said the text was “fraudulent.”

“People are posing as the educator and putting up some pretty ugly things,” she said.

• Nicholson also said that teachers had gone six years with no cost-of-living-adjustment. She also said percentage salary increases over a six year period were 0, 0, 4, 0, 3 and 0.

“So if you put those two (sets) together it goes 004030, 000000. And that some of what we’re facing right now is a shortage of educators throughout our system because of salaries that are not competitive wages.”

• The board approved new courses including “World Cultures” for the sixth grade, “Robotics II” for grades 7 and 8 and “introduction to flight” for grades 9-12.

• PineCrest Elementary earned the state’s 2015 Achievement Award.

• Brownsville Elementary was honored by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction with an Innovative School designation for the school’s efforts to build a science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) program. Each student in grades 2–6 have access to a Chromebook laptop and use Google software to collaborate and submit assignments.