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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Johnson's Pasture |
After months of stalled negotiations, Claremont city officials on Tuesday announced that it has come to an agreement with landowners to acquire Johnson’s Pasture. The city will pay $11.5 million dollars for the 180 acres of open space, allowing it to receive a one million dollar state grant to ease the tax burden on Claremont property owners.
Johnson’s Pasture, which is located on largely undeveloped land in the hills north of Claraboya, is currently owned by 4 individual parties. The negotiations had been held up for months because one of the property owners would not agree to a lowered appraisal value of the land, city officials said.
“One thing that I think was influential was that we had signed with the other owners and were ready to move forward with the purchase without her [one property owner],” city manager Jeff Parker said. “If she didn’t sign, we would have bought 3 quarters of the property. So we would have been partners with her. I think at that point in time, she realized that it would be in her best interest [to sell].”
The negotiations have been ongoing since November when Measure ‘S’ was passed by over 70 percent of voters, who decided to fund the purchase by general obligation bond. Measure ‘S’ followed a failed effort to purchase the land by assessment district in July.
Originally appraised for $12 million, state officials with the Department of Internal Services touring the land reappraised its value at $11.5 million because there was no legal access to the property, Mr. Parker said. State officials then offered the city a one million dollar grant to be awarded on the grounds that the city pay no more than $11.5 million for the property.
Mr. Parker also said that council members Ellen Taylor and Linda Elderkin played an instrumental role by engaging the one unconvinced landowner to agree to the lowered price. During a meeting over the weekend organized by Ms. Taylor, the two councilwomen sat down with the owner and were able to come to an agreement.
“[The meeting] was all very easy-going and informal,” Ms. Taylor said. “She was very gracious. We listened to what she had to say and gave her an opportunity to voice her concerns. In the end, she signed the papers and delivered them to me on Sunday afternoon.”
The drawn out negotiation process led to speculation that Johnson’s Pasture might be lost. To prepare for the possibility that an agreement with all parties could not be reached, the city was planning to buy roughly 75 percent of the territory for $8,625,000. Ms. Taylor said that a final decision, with or without the remaining landowner being on board, was set to be announced at Tuesday’s council meeting.
In addition to the $1 million state grant from the California Wildland Conservancy Board, the city will receive half a million dollars from Los Angeles County and $250,000 from the Claremont Wildland Conservancy. The Claremont Colleges have also pledged nearly $2.5 million to be paid over 35 years. After donations and processing fees, the final cost of the land that Claremont landowners are responsible for is approximately $10.2 million.
— Tony Krickl