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Developer buys SOU watershed property By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND - The State Board of Higher Education Friday approved Southern Oregon University's sale of 40 acres of wooded hillside above the school to a developer for $890,000. The board, meeting in La Grande, declined to impose a condition requested in a letter from the city of Ashland - that developer Barbara Coffman be required to adhere to city planning standards. The land is entirely outside the city but lies within its watershed, prompting the city's concerns about erosion, wildfire and construction on steep slopes. "SOU has felt that conditions agreed to by the buyer during counter-offer negotiations were well within the scope of the city's requirements," said SOU business services director Craig Morris, who negotiated the deal for the school. The sale was presented to the board by Ron Bolstad, SOU vice president for administration and finance. It is contingent on the Jackson County Planning Commission allowing the parcel to remain at five-acre lot zoning, despite changing the area to 10-acre lot zoning in October. That move seems on track, Morris said. The "Perozzi parcel," as it is known, was given to Southern Oregon Normal School in 1939. SOU declared it surplus in 1994 and offered it for sale. The city negotiated to buy it over three years, but could only offer $300,000 from its meals tax proceeds, part of which are used for open space acquisition. The Perozzi land is part of a popular hiking area. In negotiations with SOU and the city, Coffman agreed to develop a maximum of seven homesites, to give five acres to the city and sell five acres for trail access to the city-owned Siskiyou Mountain Park. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.