Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 04/13/1998 All articles from this issue

Open space district settles dispute with Russian nuns

printer friendly version

Town Crier Staff Report

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District board has reached a compromise settlement with a Russian convent that the district had earlier sought to force off their rural property.

Board members agreed April 8 to development by the Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir on their 284-acre property off Skyline Boulevard near Woodside. In exchange, the Russian nuns agreed to tone down building plans to a single structure, with the possibility of another building sometime in the future.

Under the agreement, the Los Altos-headquartered district will get the first shot at buying the property, should the nuns decide to sell it. The nuns have already agreed to sell the district 60 percent of the property.

The agreement caps a volatile negotiation period between the nuns and district officials, which had threatened eminent domain to forcibly buy the land at its March 18 meeting. The district concluded that the nuns' plans to build 18,000 square feet in buildings and a parking area constituted an environmental threat to the surrounding area. Eminent domain is the process by which a public agency can forcibly buy property for the greater public good.

However, the decision to pursue it touched off a wave of public outcry, with protesters from as far away as Germany chiding the district for denying the nuns their place of prayer. Others wrote in in support of the district's actions.

"We feel that compromise is the best way to resolve this issue," said Betsy Crowder, president of the district's board of directors. "This settlement addresses many of our concerns about this project. It's regrettable that the district had to resort to eminent domain proceedings to reach this point, but ultimately that action resulted in a compromise that is acceptable."

Board members expect to decide on final details of this settlement agreement by the end of the month.