CV selling surplus land purchased for Ridgeline High School
The Central Valley School District is preparing to sell two parcels of land it cannot use attached to property it purchased several years ago for the new Ridgeline High School on the edge of Liberty Lake.
The district purchased the 99-acre property from the Spokane Gun Club in 2018 for a new high school. Ridgeline High School opened to students last fall.
The district also built a school bus facility on the site in addition to numerous sports fields.
The two parcels being sold are on the southeastern edge of the main property along Kramer Road and aren’t anything the school district can use, associate superintendent Jay Rowell said.
The land can’t be used for building a school, Rowell said.
“The size of that parcel just isn’t suitable for an elementary school,” he said.
A large natural gas pipeline also runs through that section and school construction regulations make it impossible to build there, but other types of construction are possible, Rowell said. “Part of it isn’t usable,” he said. “You can put a parking lot on it.”
The process to sell the property has been underway since June 2021 when the school board voted to declare the property as surplus, Rowell said. Appraisals are being done and no final paperwork has been signed by the district or the proposed buyers. The matter is expected to be before the school board at the July 25 board meeting, though Rowell said he’s not sure if the property sales will be ready for the board’s final approval at the meeting.
Plans are to sell half an acre of property to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Rowell said he believes the church plans to use the site for a seminary. Liberty Lake LLC is reportedly interested in buying 5.5 acres of the property.
The registered agent for Liberty Lake LLC, headquartered in Spokane Valley, is Thomas Clemson. He is the registered agent for numerous companies and is the founder of Inland Group. According to Inland Group’s website, the company specializes in multifamily residential construction. Clemson is also behind a commercial development at 1620 N. Mamer Road.
The sale, including the price of the land, has not yet been finalized, but Rowell said that the money that comes from the land sales will be put in the district’s capital projects fund. From there it can be used for construction projects or maintenance at an existing school, such as fixing a leaking roof.