School board OKs sale of land

  • Jennifer Aaby<br>Enterprise writer
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 6:49am

Although it tabled the sale of 3.9 acres across the street from the Lynnwood Convention Center, the Edmonds School board did approve the sale of undeveloped property in the Meadowdale area at its Aug. 9 meeting.

The site of the former Educational Services Center on 196th Street SW., is considered prime property, and the district had placed the approval of a sale agreement on the agenda for the school board meeting.

During a private, executive session prior to the meeting, board members decided they wanted more discussion before voting on the sale, said Marla Miller, executive director of business and operations for the district. The topic will be addressed at a later meeting, she said.

The purchaser of the property on 196th Street SW. was listed on the meeting agenda as The Union Group, LLC, a Seattle developer, but Miller said the selection of the developer will also be part of the continued discussions. The district expects to sell the land for approximately $6.3 million.

The land was declared surplus by the school board in 1999, and the Educational Services Center is now located next to Edmonds Community College, on 68th Avenue W.

The board did approve a purchase and sale agreement for a 20-acre site west of 48th Avenue W., between 156th and 164th streets.

That sale, for the appraised value of $570,000, is to Cascade Land Conservancy, a non-profit agency that works to preserve land in Snohomish, King, Kittitas and Pierce counties.

The land was also declared surplus by the district in 1999, and since then district officials have spoken with numerous parties interested in purchasing the land. Lynnwood parks department officials have worked with Snohomish County Conservation Futures to obtain funding to eventually purchase the undeveloped land from Cascade Land Conservancy.

The preservation of this land is important for water quality and to maintain preservation of nearby Lund’s Gulch, said Peggy Bill of the Cascade Land Conservancy.

“(The city of Lynnwood) will buy it to protect as habitat, primarily, and there will be some environmental education aspect to it,” Bill said.

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