Wasilla gets title to land

WASILLA -- The city of Wasilla has won title to 60 acres designated for a multi-million-dollar sports arena, clearing the way for construction to begin this spring.

Wasilla Mayor Dianne Keller announced at Monday's city council meeting that earlier that day an Anchorage judge had awarded the city ownership of a 60-acre piece of property off South Church Road and an additional 10 or so acres needed for an access road. The next step will be for the property's value to be assessed.

"This is a major deal for this project," Keller said. While the property was in legal limbo, city officials had been hampered in applying for grants for the project or making site-dependent decisions.

Project manager Don Moore said having title to the land will now allow planning, budgeting and construction of the complex to continue on schedule. Wasilla voters a year ago approved a nearly $15 million bond to build the facility, which will include an ice arena and an indoor artificial turf court.

The council members greeted Monday night's announcement with enthusiasm and applauded the city attorneys' efforts.

"This is just a good confirmation that we were doing the right thing," said councilman Noel Lowe. He said while there had been growing concern in the community regarding the property's legal status, council members had through executive sessions been privy to information that left them feeling more confident about the case.

The condemnation hearings in Alaska Superior Court several weeks ago involved four days of testimony and according to one of the attorneys representing the city in the case, the private developer "fought it tooth and nail."

"But we've got title to the property right now as we sit here," attorney Ken Jacobus told the council Monday night.

While city officials celebrated, however, private developer Gary Lundgren told the Frontiersman that the city's win was just the latest in Wasilla's long-term efforts to take the property from him through a variety of means.

"It's through condemnation," he said of Wasilla's final effort to get the land.

"The city for the past four years has been engaged in an effort to strip us of our ability to develop this property," Lundgren said. "And that's what we bought it for -- to develop it into an industrial park."

Lundgren said that while he feels he would have a good chance in an appeal, because of the financial risk he will no longer pursue this particular case with the city.

The property had been the subject of years of legal battles after both the city and Lundgren claimed to have bought it in separate deals from the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy. The city sued both Lundgren and The Nature Conservancy, and Wasilla was declared the winner in July 2000. Lundgren appealed that case, which is now in federal court.

In December 2002 Wasilla filed a separate legal claim on the property through condemnation, which allows a public agency or utility to take property if they can prove they have the authority and the need.

The judge found the city met both these requirements.

"The next step is to determine just compensation for the property," Jacobus explained to the council. The city is in the process of having the property appraised.

In the meantime, other legal cases regarding the site of the sports arena and nearby acres are still ongoing. Wasilla has also filed for eminent domain on additional property in the area that Lundgren claims title to, and Lundgren's appeals in federal court are still proceeding.

Both sides agree that the city's ownership of the 70-plus acres for the sports facility is unlikely to be changed by any federal court decision.

"It could affect how much they will have to pay us for it, but essentially the title … will not come back to us providing the city obtains the appraisal," Lundgren said.