Questions surround land use at Petersen Rock Garden

Published 9:00 am Saturday, July 2, 2022

Deschutes County officials expressed uncertainty about the permissible land use on the Redmond property housing the Petersen Rock Garden, complicating both the current owner’s bid to sell the property, as well as a new local nonprofit’s effort to preserve the beloved roadside attraction and keep it open to the public.

The rock garden, built by Danish immigrant Rasmus Petersen in the 1940s and ’50s, sits on 12 acres that was not zoned by the county until the 1970s. Today, the property is zoned exclusively for farm use, the most restrictive zoning in unincorporated Deschutes County, said Peter Gutowsky, the director of Deschutes County’s Community Development Department.

The property is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, creating another layer of uncertainty regarding how the property can and cannot be used or altered by a new owner, whether it is a private investor or a nonprofit organization intending to preserve Petersen’s creations.

Petersen’s granddaughter, Susan Caward, put the property up for sale in early June. It is currently open to members of the public, which visit daily to see its rock structures and the peacocks that roam freely on the grounds.

One such organization is currently seeking nonprofit status with hopes to garner the financial support to either acquire the property to preserve and maintain it as a publicly accessible historic landmark, or to assist a new buyer in doing such. However, the land use and zoning questions cast a shadow over any prospective real estate deal, placing the rock garden’s fate in limbo.

In a June 22 email, Gutowsky told Caward’s real estate broker, Kaisha Brannon of Coldwell Banker Sun Country Realty, as well as other stakeholders, that certain structures on the property such as the museum, may have been “abandoned” for a period of time, which will make it problematic to legally reestablish them for public use.

Gutowsky encouraged any buyer to retain a consultant to evaluate the land use status of the rock garden in relation to possible new uses, and said he was not aware of any prior land use entitlement for the property. He suspected the rock garden operated under a longstanding land use agreement that existed before Deschutes County adopted zoning in the 1970s.

“It may be necessary to verify that there is a lawful existing land use on the property,” Gutowsky said in his email.

Other challenges to potential buyers intending to maintain the rock garden outlined in Gutowsky’s email include ensuring the septic system is able to accommodate wastewater from the general public, and the need to build a public bathroom adhering to Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Any desired land use will also be evaluated for transportation impacts, he said. Finally, Gutowsky reminded stakeholders the rock garden is recognized locally and nationally as historic, and so building codes could also be a factor, he wrote.

“There is a lot of uncertainty with the property, and knowing that it is for sale, it’s going to be important that potential buyers understand that uncertainty, and there may be other issues that I may not be aware of that could come up,” Gutowsky told The Bulletin. “One can’t just alter or demolish them (the historic assets on the property) without approval from the Community Development Department, or through the landmarks commission or through a separate quasi judicial process.”

Gutowsky said the point of bringing up such questions is not to set up roadblocks to potential buyers, but to make sure all parties involved understand the multitude of factors that will need to be explored when considering the property.

“Obviously, there is tremendous community interest in this property. There’s neighbors, and interest groups and people who have affiliation with Petersen Rock Garden, near and far who may really scrutinize how this property revitalizes itself,” Gutowsky said. “It is paramount that potential buyers understand this set of circumstances. It’s a very unique property. And one would hate to see someone not perform their due diligence and then purchase the property and then find that to execute their business plan is running afoul of underlying zoning and historical protections afforded under county code and the National Register of Historic Places.”

Brannon, Caward’s agent, said she hopes to verify some of the points raised by Gutowsky, and said she plans to meet with county officials from Gutowsky’s department to gain a better understanding of the situation.

Brannon said her job will require knowing, for example, if commercial uses are allowed on the property.

She said she has gotten contradictory answers to that question and others, complicating any potential real estate transaction.

Brannon said since the property was listed about two weeks ago, she has already reached out to the county numerous times to request all relevant information on the property. During that time, none of the issues raised by Gutowsky were brought up until she received his email, she said.

Caward said she is not sure why her property would have been designated as “abandoned.”

“I lived here every day of my life,” said the 57-year-old Caward. “Since the day I was born.”

Caward said there had been a couple times over the years when the rock garden had to be shut down, once because the yard flooded, froze over and then got snowed on, and another time when her insurance was canceled. Other than those specific times of temporary closure, she said, the museum continued to function as it traditionally has to this day.

Annette Perry, co-chair of the Petersen Rock Garden Association, a pending nonprofit organization with plans to either acquire the garden and museum itself or assist the future owner in preserving and maintaining it for the public, said their plans are currently up in the air until the property changes hands.

Until it is sold, and until the uncertainty surrounding land use and zoning on the property are settled with the county, the new group’s efforts are in limbo, Perry said. But the group’s primary focus is historical preservation.

“That would be our ultimate goal. We know that a private owner could close that down, but we know what Mr. Petersen wanted,” Perry said, “to have it preserved and open for the public.”

“We are hoping that the steps we are taking now ensure that nobody destroys the rock garden structures,” she added.