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2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Yelp's Top 10 Medford restaurants choose their personal favorites ... Medford businesses allegedly swindled immigrants ... Since You Asked: 'No Loitering' signs not solution to homelessness ... Yelp's Top 10 Medford restaurants choose their personal favorites ... Medford businesses allegedly swindled immigrants ... Since You Asked: 'No Loitering' signs not solution to homelessness ... Charley's Land Jackson County officials say a land swap will lead to fulfilling a nearly 40-year-old promise ... but not everyone agrees When Charley Givan sold his pioneer family's 300-acre ranch near Eagle Point to Jackson County in 1972, the lifelong bachelor with no descendants had three conditions for the deal. Comment By MARK FREEMAN MailTribune.com By MARK FREEMAN Posted Feb. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 13, 2011 at 2:45 AM By MARK FREEMAN Posted Feb. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 13, 2011 at 2:45 AM » Social News When Charley Givan sold his pioneer family's 300-acre ranch near Eagle Point to Jackson County in 1972, the lifelong bachelor with no descendants had three conditions for the deal. The 81-year-old Givan wanted to live out his days on this little piece of heaven homesteaded by his grandparents in 1879. He also wanted promises that the land would never be broken up, and that it would forever remain a park. County officials made good on the first promise, and Givan lived out his days on the property alongside the Rogue River off Agate Road until his death in 1986. But in the quarter-century since then, the land hasn't been much of a playground to anyone except the occasional horseback rider. The problem was always the county's lack of money to develop a park, and the ranch's two huge parcels were already split by an 18-acre parcel Givan donated to the Medford Elks Lodge for a picnic ground. Jackson County officials now believe they are finally on the cusp of making Givan's park dream a reality. But to do so, they want to fudge on that one last promise. They are looking into breaking off a 34-acre piece of Givan's ranch and swapping it for the 18-acre former Elks property, bought in 2009 by retired Medford developer Chris Galpin. Doing so would reconnect the ranch pieces, and the picnic grounds' commercial land-use status could be the basis of an equestrian center or other low-intensity use that could become Givan's ultimate legacy. "It was two broken pieces and we could never figure out how to make them work as a park separately," County Commissioner C.W. Smith says. "But together, we make it a better opportunity for that park Givan always wanted." County officials say they have the legal ability to subdivide and swap the property, because Givan's conditions were never added to the deed. Also, they believe they can jump through the various hoops needed to trade away parkland bought in part with federal trust funds. But Neil Ledward, the former county parks director who brokered that deal with Givan 39 year ago, believes the land swap constitutes a reneging on his word and the promises of former county commissioners. "I think this violates that," says Ledward, 83. Moreover, nearby landowners along this idyllic stretch of the upper Rogue fear the swap is just the start of opening to development this large open space with tall Ponderosa pines. They have appealed the county's plan to allow a home site on the acreage tapped for the trade to Galpin, in part because of well-documented Takelma Indian artifacts buried there, which might trump building. And they want the county to put all its cards concerning the future of Givan Park on the table before adding a hom esite on land zoned for exclusive farm use. "What's the rush to get a home site now?" says Greg Layton, a neighbor fighting the home-site designation. "There's no information in the planning document about a proposed land swap. "I don't care about people's motivations," Layton says. "I want to see what's in the public record, and from what I see in the public record so far, it looks like they're pulling a fast one." County officials maintain that adding the home site is a small first step in a lengthy journey that will include ample public discussion and debate over whether the land swap is, indeed, in the public's best interest. "I think if Mr. Givan were alive today and was posed that same question, he'd think it would make pretty good sense," Smith says. Ledward begs to differ. "He didn't know Charley Givan," Ledward says. Charley Givan was one of four siblings who grew up at the ranch, raising cattle and grain. His sister, Ruth, left the farm and ended up in Idaho, while Charley and his brothers stayed to work the ranch. One brother died early after getting married, Ledward remembers Givan telling him. The two remaining Givans decided that marriage was what killed their brother, so they remained bachelors, Ledward says. When farming equipment such as tillers would break, Givan would simply leave it where it died, says Ledward, who knew Givan for a decade. Elks Lodge members decades ago talked Givan into donating some of his land for the picnic grounds, and Givan ended up cutting his holdings in half with a road easement connecting them. "That was one of his problems," Ledward says. "He could be talked into anything." In the early 1970s, Givan almost got talked into selling his property to a California development firm interested in subdividing it. When the county got wind of the potential sale, Ledward says he met with Givan and tried talking him out of selling to developers. Instead, the county would buy it for full market value — $99,385. The north parcel covered 168 acres, with about 130 acres in the south parcel, connected only by an easement along the edge of the Elks property, Ledward says. Givan agreed, and the county commissioners were happy to oblige Givan with his conditions, Ledward says. The land was paid for over a five-year period, with half coming from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, records show. But when an attorney hired by the county drafted the deed, Givan's conditions were left off. Ledward says he doesn't remember why the conditions were left off the deed 39 years ago, but he recalls believing that the strict rules against selling land purchased through the conservation fund would cover Givan's conditions. "We felt it was going to be pretty well protected," says Ledward, who retired in 1991. The land sat undeveloped for years, chiefly due to a lack of county money and access problems, Ledward says. Attempts to acquire the Elks property to connect the two never came to fruition, he says. "We decided to just leave it sit for a while," Ledward says. "It's open space, three miles of river frontage. It's the last potential parklands on the upper Rogue River." The county in the early 1990s flirted with the idea of forming a partnership with a California developer to put a golf course there, but that plan fizzled. Fast-forward to 2009, when the Elks Lodge put the picnic grounds up for sale. Just as Galpin bought it, he says state parks officials approached him about taking part in a series of land swaps to put the picnic grounds into the county's hands. He agreed, but that fell through over state funding issues, Galpin says. So the county approached Galpin to swing a deal, and they considered trading several tracts of county-owned land before settling on the 34-acre chunk on the north end of Givan Park, Galpin says. The county and Galpin on July 1 signed a non-binding memorandum in which the county sought approval of a home site to make the land values pencil out, Galpin says. Conservation fund rules prohibit land purchased through the fund from being sold, but it contains provisions for land swaps. The swap must get approval from state parks officials and the National Park Service, and the land the county receives must be equal to or more valuable than the land relinquished. That value requirement often is a stumbling block in such transactions, including a planned swap in 2004 between the city of Medford and Grace Christian School involving Liberty Park. Galpin's land was appraised in January at about $2.5 million, with the county's 34-acre tract valued at $400,000. Under the July agreement, Galpin intends to donate the difference to the county so the park tracts can finally meet. "Just because it's our community," Galpin says. No trade would occur without public hearings and a vote by the County Commission. Once done, the county could then move forward with a master plan for park development, Smith says. If the swap eventually occurs, Galpin says he has no intention of developing that 34 acres. "Take the home site off, I don't care," Galpin says. "I'm not going to go down there to build a home." Instead, Galpin says he hopes to sell off part to a neighbor and turn the rest into a nature preserve. Any proceeds would then get plowed into another project, in which Galpin intends to restore about 120 acres of land abutting White City's state-owned Denman Wildlife Area and donate that land to Denman, he says. "I get a tax write-off out of it," Galpin, 68, says. "I'm getting old. I can't take it with me." If it all pans out, Smith says, he would like to see the area developed into an equestrian center with plenty of homage given to Givan, who likely would think that getting two out of his three promises met isn't that bad. "I look at this as an opportunity to finally do something to the land," Smith says. "I think Mr. Givan would be thrilled to death." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or e-mail at [email protected]. By MARK FREEMAN MailTribune.com By MARK FREEMAN Posted Feb. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 13, 2011 at 2:45 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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