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SOU accepts private offer But city will get 10 acres of land in Perozzi parcel By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND � After the buyer agreed to give or sell a fourth of the land to the city, Southern Oregon University accepted a $890,000 offer from Barbara Coffman, of Ashland, for the wooded 40-acre Perozzi parcel nestled in the hills above the school. A second bid, of $300,000, was offered by the city to keep the parcel as open space. The university sold the land to Coffman on the stipulations she would develop it only as single-family dwellings and would build "where feasible" in accordance with the city�s building standards, which are much stricter than the county standards governing the area. Coffman accepted the counterproposal by SOU, which also required she give 5 acres to the city and sell another 5 acres for trail access to the city-owned Siskiyou Mountain Park. The deal now goes to the State Board of Higher Education for approval. In her offer to SOU, Coffman said she hoped to tap into city water and sewer services to lessen the impact of wells and septic systems on the city�s watershed. But city officials ruled this out because the parcel is well outside urban growth boundaries. "Providing water outside our UGB is against city ordinances," said Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown, "and providing sewer outside UGBs is against state statutes." SOU submitted development plans to Jackson County last year for 5-acre minimum lots, just before the county changed to 10-acre minimums. Coffman has submitted amended plans under the older zoning to create six or seven building lots. They would be in the southeast corner of the parcel and each builder would be allowed to clear only one acre, leaving the rest as is. The city remains concerned about developers "chopping up a bunch of land for roads and driveways and doing a lot of digging for wells and septics," said Councilman Don Laws, a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, which oversaw the city�s bid on the steep, erosion-prone land. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sally Jones, a vocal opponent of development of the Perozzi parcel, said the city should have been given another opportunity to counteroffer when SOU offered its counteroffer to Coffman. Coffman�s transfer of 10 acres to the city "softens her offer" but if the deal fails, Jones added, it will be back on the agenda for city purchase. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.