Fairgrounds Tenant Faces Big Rent Hike Conservation District’s Rent Could Jump From $100 To $18,000

A government agency that helps private landowners with conservation projects may see its rent increase 179-fold.

Its landlord is Spokane County.

County commissioners say they’re just trying to get a fair return for taxpayers by ending a sweet deal for the Spokane County Conservation District, an independent district that’s funded by state money.

For 14 years, the district has leased land at a corner of the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds for $100 a year. That lease expires in 2008.

Now, the district needs to expand its space. County officials want to use the opportunity to increase the rent to $18,000 a year.

The rate is based on the $2 per square foot Home Depot paid for the land under its new store, about a block from the district building. At that rate, the land is worth about $189,000.

Other nearby land has sold for as little as 34 cents a square foot or as much as $11, according to a county survey.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin noted that if the district weren’t using the land, the county might sell it.

“And it’d be a premium piece of property based on what’s going on around it,” she said.

District Administrator Rich Baden said his agency can’t afford to pay what the county suggests.

He noted that the district has spent about $35,000 developing an arboretum on the site, which is surrounded by the fairgrounds and commercial and industrial lands. Planting and maintaining the trees and shrubs are a requirement of the original lease.

The district has a $95,000 metal storage shed on the land. Its offices are in a nearby agricultural center, which is shared by other federal, state and local agencies.

The district plans to spend about $600,000 nearly doubling the size of the storage building, and turning it into offices and other needed space. The district would move into that building, freeing up space in the crowded ag center.

Some of the money would go toward expanding and improving the arboretum, where clients can see different plants at different stages of development, and get ideas for their use.

Among other things, the conservation district helps landowners restore eroded stream banks, care for urban trees, or plant trees and shrubs for wind breaks or wildlife habitat. It is overseen by a volunteer board, and does not fall under the authority of county commissioners.

The district’s clients include farmers and a growing number of people who have moved from the city onto small country lots.

Commissioners said they’d be willing to let the district use the land rent-free, if the new building becomes the county’s at the end of the lease.

Exactly how long that lease would last wasn’t settled: The district is looking for a 50-year commitment, while commissioners say they don’t want to tie up land for any longer than 20 years.

Conservation district spokesman Jim Armstrong said he doubts the district board will accept the county’s terms.

“They’re not going to want to give up a $600,000 building for $189,000 worth of land,” he said.

Commissioner Phil Harris predicted the district will lose its funding and go out of business before the lease expires. The loss of family farms makes its demise inevitable, he said.

Armstrong disagreed.

“The demand for our services are increasing every year,” he said.

, DataTimes