Muller Lane Parkway progress hits legal hitch

What was anticipated to be the first step in the actual construction of the county’s portion of Muller Lane Parkway prompted a letter from Park Ranch Holdings saying the county is in default of a 2019 development agreement.

“The county has been obligated to build Muller Parkway since we first entered into an agreement in 2005 and they haven’t built the road,” David Park said. “They know they have an obligation to build the road by 2025. They know it’s coming, and they’ve been sitting on their hands. And at the last minute, they think they have everything under control.”

Park said the county still has to deal with the drainage from Pine Nut and Buckeye creeks.

“They’ve got the cart before the horse,” he said. “They have got to figure that out before they design the road.”

Park said he feels the road design is flawed and creates a new flood hazard that affects the Park property, Bently Ranch and residents along Orchard Road.

“They’re behind the eight-ball because they started way too late,” he said. “This has been a long time coming. It has been 19 years and I’m done with the stall tactics and manipulation on how they are going to make us believe they are going to design and build the road.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, Douglas County officials disputed the claim.

“Douglas County has proceeded in good faith in order to fulfill the terms of the 2019 agreement, encompassing both parties’ commitments to construct Muller Parkway,” the county said. “We remain determined to proceed with the groundbreaking of Muller Parkway, slated to begin in May or June of 2024.”

As reported in The Record-Courier, the Regional Transportation Commission awarded a contract for the southern portion of the Parkway outside of the floodway in the north.

Park attorney Mark Forsberg said in the April 24 letter that the Parks only recently received a new set of plans that were used to solicit bids for the project.

Forsberg asserts there are portions of the plans that say the contractor can build on around 5 acres of land outside of the right of way deeded by Park Ranch.

The letter formally notifies Douglas County that Park Ranch Holdings plans to build Muller Parkway and seek the letter of map revision through the flood plain.

Under the agreement, if the Parks do the work, the county is obligated to pay for it.

Forsberg said the county was fine with that until March 1 when it withdrew from the plan and decided to build Muller itself.

A conditional letter of map revision submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build the northern portion of the Parkway says flood waters will overtop the road and will inundate part of the Buckeye Farms subdivision, according to Forsberg.

The county is already in litigation over the segment of Muller Lane Parkway adjacent to Ashland Park just north of Toler Lane.

A request for summary judgment was denied on April 17 in that case, which is seeking to establish that the developers only have to participate in building half of a two-lane road, without drainage infrastructure or the roundabouts proposed.