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Park district flattens Lehman house

In December 2012, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District purchased 6.85 acres from the family of long-time resident Laurence Lehman. The purchase was funded by $1.954 million of the 2008 Bond Measure money.

The district initially planned to rent the farmhouse, but found that, according to district spokesman Bob Wayt, “It was going to cost too much to make it habitable to rent, so we have allowed TVFR and the Washington County Sheriff department to conduct training at the site over the past few years.” Additional buildings on the site are still being leased to Laurence’s son Larry and his family, who continue to live in the home at the southeast corner.

In mid-August, the farmhouse on the old Lehman property was demolished.

The property, at the southwest corner of Saltzman and Thompson, will eventually be developed into a neighborhood park, with a variety of recreation facilities including a multi-use sports field. But it may be quite a while before the park is developed, because it’s surrounded by properties that are not in the district’s current boundaries.

Annexation into THPRD became mandatory for new development in 2004. Most of the homes around the site were built before that time and the developers chose not to annex. THPRD may tie development of the site to annexation of the surrounding neighborhood. If that strategy is followed, the District would develop a park on the site if the majority of the neighbors vote in an election to annex, or if they choose to annex individually.

For information about voluntary annexation , call the district at 503- 645-6433.

Another barrier to park development is the extension of Kenny Terrace, a diagonal route to eliminate right-angle turns on Thompson Road. The western end of the road is closed with a gate on Thompson, and the eastern end stops at the property acquired by the district.

In Washington County, roads are usually built by whoever develops the adjacent property, as part of the cost of development. Extension of that road through the former Lehman property could occur before park development if Washington County or another agency would fund it.

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