Metro, Tigard agree to buy Fields property as natural area and future park along Fanno Creek Greenway
Metro and Tigard are teaming up to protect 26 acres in the heart of the city as a natural area, future park and wayside along the developing Fanno Creek Greenway trail.
The Tigard City Council voted Tuesday to put $2 million toward the $5.15 million purchase of a wooded site known as the Fields property, which has generated strong community support. Metro has committed the remaining $3.15 million, using funds from the region’s voter-approved natural areas bond measure.
Bordered by the Tigard Public Library, railroad tracks and an undeveloped Metro natural area, the Fields property stands out as an oasis of green in a highly developed suburban area. More than half the land is forested, featuring ash and oak trees that provide important wildlife habitat – a statewide conservation priority because they have declined dramatically in the Willamette Valley. Fanno Creek traverses a corner of the site, surrounded by a wetland and floodplain.
If the purchase is finalized as expected, it will close a key gap in the Fanno Creek Greenway, bringing walkers, joggers and bicyclists through the property. Metro and Tigard will work together to create a blend of natural habitat and active recreation.
"This is the culmination of a longstanding effort to try and preserve this land," said Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka, who represents the southwestern part of the region. "Its importance is magnified because it provides opportunities for people along the trail to have more large-scale natural areas. We have this idea of the trail being a necklace; this is one of the jewels on that necklace."
For Tigard, this acquisition is a long time coming. After local voters passed a $17 million park and open space bond measure in 2010, a citizen-led advisory board ranked the Fields property highly among a list of potential acquisitions.
Longtime landowner Fred Fields submitted several development applications over the years, each including a proposal to extend Wall Street to the property via a bridge over Fanno Creek. Fields died in December and, early this year, Metro entered into negotiations with the estate’s representative. Metro agreed to buy the land for the appraised value of $5.15 million, contingent on a $2 million contribution from Tigard.
The Tigard City Council voted Tuesday to split its share of the purchase price between two sources: park system development charges and the city’s open space bond measure. After considering the land unobtainable for many years, said Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen, it’s now within reach.
"The opportunity to bring it into public ownership is, for me, truly a dream come true," said Dirksen, who was elected to fill the Metro Council seat Hosticka is vacating in January. "This property will be a centerpiece for our entire park system in Tigard."
With Tigard’s commitment now in place, Metro will continue standard site investigations and move toward finalizing the purchase by early fall. Tigard and Metro will share ownership; the two governments are developing an agreement about how the property will be managed.
Securing land along Fanno Creek is a priority for Metro, which invests a $227 million bond measure designed to protect water quality, wildlife habitat and opportunities for people to connect with nature. Over the course of 17 years and two bond measures, Metro has preserved 12,000 acres of natural areas, protected more than 100 miles of river and stream banks, planted nearly 2 million trees and shrubs, and supported hundreds of community projects across the region.
Adding the Fields property to that list, Hosticka said, "fulfills a lot of our goals and missions."