Oxnard District Seeks to Condemn Land to Build Elementary School : Development: Officials have been stalled in their plans for the property since a deal to buy the five-acre site went sour.

After a year of trying to purchase a five-acre parcel from a prominent farming family, Oxnard School District officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to condemn the land to build an elementary school.

School and Oxnard city officials want to combine the land owned by the John McGrath Family Partnership with an adjacent nine-acre parcel to build the Norman R. Brekke School in the northeast area of the city, attorneys said.

Marc Charney, the McGrath family attorney, said his clients had agreed to sell the property for $140,000 an acre. However, the deal fell apart when the school district and city made four last-minute changes to the sales contract, Charney said.

The changes are “completely outside the scope of normal land sale agreements,” Charney said.

Both the school district and the city are involved in the acquisition of the land because it will double as a school playground and a city park, said attorney Randall O. Parent, who represents the governmental entities.

The other nine acres of farmland needed to complete the school site are owned by the Pfeiler family. A condemnation lawsuit against the Pfeilers was filed several months ago, Parent said.

The proposed school site is south of Gonzales Road between Rose Avenue and Oxnard Boulevard.

Charney said the last-minute changes in the sale agreement included a warranty that makes the McGraths responsible if any existing condition of the property is determined in the future to cause an environmental problem. The warranty also called for the McGraths to pay for any lawsuits filed against the school district because of the environmental condition, he said.

The final sales contract, prepared by the city and school district, also deleted an oral agreement between the parties that the sale price would increase if the Pfeiler property was purchased for more than the $140,000-per-acre price to which the McGraths agreed, Charney said.

Parent refused to comment on the terms of the proposed contract, except to say “there are a number of issues that couldn’t be resolved.”

Parent said he hopes negotiations will continue with the McGrath family. It was necessary to file the lawsuit, however, he said, to move the acquisition process along so the school will be ready when it is needed about three years from now.

“We’re always hopeful we can negotiate a settlement,” Parent said. “Filing a lawsuit doesn’t preclude further negotiations.”

If a sale agreement cannot be reached, the lawsuit will go to trial, the attorneys said. Charney said a court cannot order the McGraths to agree to the last-minute terms that were added to the contract.

“There is the chance that the price awarded by the court will be less than the negotiated price, but we don’t believe this is a likely occurrence,” he said.