Sports complex still a possibility

Editor's note: The original story on this development erred in saying the sports complex was no longer contiguous with the UGB, following the Abrams withdrawal. The story below sets the record straight.

While John Abrams' last-minute withdrawal has thrown into question a proposed expansion of McMinnville's urban growth boundary to accommodate a sports complex off Hill Road, it has not eliminated the possibility entirely.

Only hours before the McMinnville Urban Area Management Commission was set to begin its deliberations last Thursday, Abrams indicated he was withdrawing his application of annexation of a two-acre parcel. That application had been scheduled for hearing jointly with one submitted by the See Ya Later Foundation for a sports complex proposed on 20 adjacent acres.

The foundation is seeking to develop the complex on a parcel of Hill Road land donated by local baseball legend Scott Brosius. In its application, it indicated Abrams' 60-foot wide, two-acre sliver would make the complex continguous to a future McMinnville School District high school site and provide an access route.

While the withdrawal will force the foundation to rework its project, forgo high school adjacency and develop a new access route, its parcel does remain contigious to the urban growth boundary on its own. Thus, it still has an opportunity to proceed without Abrams.