Will Park County Buy Vacant Land for Park Use? Have they Read the Fine Print?

For many weeks a large social media campaign has been launched for the County to purchase vacant land known as 599 Rosalie Road in Bailey. This contingent of individuals is pushing for the County to purchase the land using Land and Water Trust funds, a Park County 1% sale tax used to protect the counties water rights and purchase land.

Currently the land is owned by the Platte Canyon School District (PCSD), the land was declared as surplus property February 13, 2023 and the bidding process was announced to the public April 11, 2023. In the last two decades PCSD has used this vacant property for running school events such as field day, cross country meets and the Bailey Outdoor Education and Recreation Area (BOERA) was granted a management agreement via the school district to hold fundraisers and operate a disc golf course, this land is currently closed to the public. The relatively small group of individuals (in relation to the population of district voters of 12,000+ residents) that want the County to purchase this vacant land would like to keep the land as a park open to public use.

Found in the district's 192 page RFP is a link located on page 161 at the bottom in blue, Book 205 Page 155. This is presented via the title insurance document, and will be acknowledged in the warranty deed.

Book 205 Page 155.pdf

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This is a copy of the deed conveyed in 1969, some might refer to this as a historical deed. Within the deed the owner placed these conditions and restrictions:

This land has been restricted to single family residential use since December of 1969.

So, first things first, how has PCSD been using this property in violation of the restrictions? The second questions is how will the County continue to use this property as a park with these restrictions in place? If the County were to win the bid on this property how much money in attorney fees will it cost to remove this restriction? Should it be the school districts responsibility to remove the restriction? There are many more legal questions that should be answered by County counsel. Perhaps the County will need to hire a land use attorney as special counsel? The legal questions go on.

Clearly this is not a simple purchase of vacant land to keep as a park, this will require some legal maneuvering. So the last question is, can Park County afford it?