The vote has been cast and the decision made — a popular mouse may have to find a new home.
The Newberg City Council voted unanimously on May 6 in favor of liquidating the parcel across from city hall commonly known as the Butler Property. Via council resolution, the city has declared the approximately quarter-acre lot to be surplus and available for sale.
The city had charged the Oregon Valuation Group, a Sherwood firm, with assessing the property, and it was appraised at $257,500.
“The city desires to sell the property after the 17th of June,” City Manager Will Worthey said in an email. “The city will not accept a lower bid than this appraised value. The site is therefore available to be sold pending the relevant negotiations.”
The land’s only resident — and other than a sidewalk the only development since the parcel was acquired more than two decades ago — is a joyful bronze mouse sculpture called “Boys Night Out,” installed in November 2023 by the Newberg Public Art Council.
The City Council didn’t entertain other options for the use of the land, Worthey said.
“Over the years there have been many ideas floated for what to do with the parcel, everything from a small hotel to a parking lot, but for financial reasons nothing ever came of these ideas,” he added.
The council has been concentrating on paying down the city’s debt. Residents’ utility bills have especially been targeted.
“One way to try to control the growth of the city’s (bills) is to work on eliminating our current debts,” Worthey said.
Movement to sell the property came about when a local developer made an offer to purchase it, Worthey said, adding that the city is now in negotiations with the undisclosed developer’s broker over the price, which is expected to higher than the initial offer.
How will the land be developed?
Worthey said he has some ideas on how he would like to see the land developed.
“Ideally, I think more mixed-use construction with a retail component would help retain the character of downtown,” he said. “It’s a dream of many on council and staff that one day after the bypass connects at Rex Hill, we could improve the character of downtown further and make it more retail friendly and walkable. Maybe there could be additional traffic calming measures and even angle parking. Of course, the ball on all of this is in (the Oregon Department of Transportation's) court.”
Current zoning allows mixed use functions in the downtown corridor, “so many sorts of amazing developments could occur,” Worthey added.
Regardless, the city manager said the fate of the popular mouse is secure.
“The beloved sculpture will be preserved and early indications are that if the offer on the table right now goes through it will be able to stay at the same site,” Worthey said.
Land’s past tied to the automobile
The sculpture sits on land that formerly held Butler Chevrolet, the last in a series of automotive-related businesses to inhabit the land and stretching back nearly a century. In the late 1990s, Howard Butler sold off the dealership to Loren Berg. Berg moved the business to East Portland Road (it was sold again a few years ago and is now called Newberg Chevrolet). Butler sold the land to the city for $1 in 2001, likely knowing that the land was contaminated with all manner of petroleum products used at a string of car dealerships and repair shops.
Upon testing, it was confirmed much of the parcel was indeed contaminated, and mitigation would be necessary before it could be put to good use. Fortunately, the city was successful in securing a state brownfield mitigation grant. Crews first aired out, then hauled away hundreds of yards of contaminated soil before bringing in clean soil and leveling the lot.
It has set empty ever since, except for the mouse and as the former site of the Newberg farmers’ market.
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