Title
Chief Administrative Office, Parks Division, recommending the Board:
1) Find and declare the property known as Bennett Park located at 561 Canal Street, Placerville, CA 95667, as exempt surplus land; and
2) Authorize and appoint the Chief Administrative Officer, or designee, as the real estate negotiator on behalf of the County, to enter into negotiations with the El Dorado Union High School District or their designated representative, for said property.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Bennett Park is located adjacent to El Dorado Union High School. The land was donated to the County in 1924 by Marcus and Mary Bennett to be used as a public recreational park for the benefit of the County in memory of their son. The 1924 deed restricted the use of the property solely for “recreation, sports, social open air gatherings, entertainments, games and amusements.” The deed further provided that the “property shall never be used for public camp grounds, for any commercial purpose, and no school building, residence or dwelling house, or any building for commercial purposes, shall ever be erected or maintained thereon.”
The County and El Dorado Union High School District entered into a Maintenance and Operations Agreement for Bennett Park, dated March 22, 1977, allowing the school district to exclusively operate and manage the recreation programs and facilities at Bennett Park for recreational purposes consistent with the 1924 deed restrictions for a term of 50 years.
In 2008, the County and school district executed a land exchange for the transfer of an undeveloped 1.62 acre parcel of Bennett Park to the school district to construct a culinary arts building, and in exchange, the school district transferred roughly the same size of land improved with a baseball field to the County. This followed a similar transfer in 1999, when the County transferred a small portion of the park to the school district for use as a wrestling facility, in exchange f...
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