Community Education Environment

School district buys 20 acres in Purdy, forestalling Rush Companies’ 130-home development

Posted on November 25th, 2024 By: Ted Kenney

The Peninsula School District closed on its purchase of 20.42 acres of land in Purdy on Friday, Nov. 22.

The district paid Gig Harbor-based Rush Companies $6.24 million for eight parcels, most of them directly across 62nd Avenue from Peninsula High School. The district reiterated its earlier statement that it will hold the land for future projects, rather than using it to meet any current need.

The deal’s impact on the Purdy community may be more significant for what it prevents than for any change it brings about in the near term.

130-home development is off

The purchase cuts short Rush Companies’ plan to build a large residential development there.

Peninsula School District closed on a purchase of 20.06 acres along 62nd Avenue near its intersection with 144th Street.

Rush submitted a preliminary plat application to Pierce County for a subdivision of 130 single-family homes and duplexes on the land. The property borders 144th Avenue to the north, 62nd Avenue to the west, Highway 16 to the east and existing school district property to the south.

The proposed 130-home development gave Rush a project it could fall back on in case the sale to the school district did not go through.

The school district and Rush established terms for the deal in a purchase-and-sale contract signed on July 24. In that agreement, the district retained the right to back out of the deal until Nov. 30.

Completing its preliminary plat application for the subdivision also vested (or grandfathered in) existing zoning laws for Rush’s residential project. This mattered for the developer, since more restrictive zoning may be coming to Purdy due to changes in the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan update that must be finalized by Dec. 31.

Purchase of smaller property delayed

When the district signed closing papers on Friday, it postponed buying an additional 4.89 acres that were part of the original purchase-and-sale agreement. That land consists of a strip running east-west along Peninsula High School’s southern boundary.

At its Nov. 12 meeting, the Peninsula School District approved an amendment to the purchase-and-sale agreement splitting the land purchase into a first phase, for acquiring the 20.42 acres, and a second phase, for buying the 4.89-acre strip.

The district has until March 31, 2025, to choose whether to buy this smaller property for $260,000. Until then, the school district may continue its due diligence investigation.

Among other issues listed in the amended agreement, the district will investigate whether water from a well located on this parcel is potable and free from contaminants, and determine that there are no boundary disputes affecting the property.

Peninsula School District purchased the property outlined in blue from Rush Construction. An option to buy the plot outlined in red was extended until March.

Easements

The amended agreement calls for Rush Companies to create an easement that allows a neighbor to continue drawing water from the well on the property. The easement would also release current or future owners of the property (including the school district) from obligation to maintain, repair or operate the well.

Rush must also clean up the land, removing property including vehicles, containers of chemicals, and a burnt-out automobile and car battery.

If the school district decides to not purchase this smaller property, it will get back any of the $315,000 earnest money it has paid in the deal that has not already been allocated to buying the 20.46-acre property.

If the school district does buy the 4.89-acre strip, Rush gets to keep a utilities easement across that land that was created by the initial purchase-and-sale agreement. This provision, called the East-West Utility Easement, provides a means to connect with the city of Gig Harbor’s sewer lift station at the west end of the strip on Purdy Drive.

It is unclear how Rush Companies would use this easement, but the company has other undeveloped property in the area. These include a 12.34-acre parcel it has sought to develop that sits a short distance south of the 4.89-acre strip, and a one-acre parcel on Purdy Drive that adjoins the southern edge of the 4.89-acre strip.

‘No specific plans’

Peninsula School District’s position is that the land purchase from Rush Companies is to make sure it has property available if needed for any future projects or opportunities. “There are no specific plans for this land as of now,” said district spokesperson Danielle Chastaine.

Chastaine noted that the district is already working with Pierce County to ensure that the county’s comp plan update gives its newly-purchased land Public Institution zoning, which allows public-owned facilities and institutions.

The district’s Six-Year Capital Facilities Plan 2023 – 2029, passed by the school board last year, describes where the school system’s most recent facilities improvements have occurred and gives some indication of where future needs may arise.

The plan notes that the district’s Capital Facilities Bond measure, passed in 2019, provided $198.5 million to replace Artondale and Evergreen elementary schools and to build Swift Water and Pioneer elementary schools. The bond proceeds also went toward modernizing and expanding Key Peninsula and Kopachuck middle schools.

Between 2022 and 2029, the Capital Facilities Plan foresees the greatest growth in students at the high school level. The plan predicts district-wide elementary school headcount to fall by 124 students during this period, while forecasting enrollment growth of 316 students in middle school and 395 students in the district’s high schools.

The district purchased the land using interest earned on the 2019 bond sale proceeds while in the district’s Capital Projects Fund, as well as matching funds provided by the state, district sources said.