Modesto challenged over planned sale of McClure property

The estate of the couple who some 40 years ago sold Modesto farmland with an 1880s-era farmhouse with the understanding that the city would turn the property into a museum wants to rescind the deal because the city is trying to sell the property. The city never developed the site, citing budget constraints.

The Modesto law firm Brunn & Flynn filed a claim against the city this month alleging breach of contract. The firm represents the estate of Ida A. McClure. She and her husband, Lawrence, sold the city 16 acres in 1973 and 6 acres in 1975 for $151,940. The land came with the farmhouse.

They also donated dozens of pieces of antique furniture and furnishings from the farmhouse, including a poster bed, paintings and a china cabinet, to the city in 1975 for the proposed living-history museum to honor the region’s agricultural heritage.

The property is known as the McClure Country Place. The roughly 22 acres of open space is dotted with trees on the south side of Dry Creek between McClure and Claus roads. The McClures acquired the property in the early 1900s. The property had been a farm and a dairy over the years. The farmhouse has fallen into disrepair and has been fenced off for years to keep out vandals and vagrants.

The City Council in December declared 16 acres – which includes the farmhouse – as surplus property and authorized the city’s staff to sell it, with the proceeds to be used for parks and recreation projects. The claim says the farmhouse is not part of what the city intends to sell, though city officials say the 16 acres includes the farmhouse. The council has met in closed session twice this month to discuss the potential sale to Mary C. Gallo, who owns a farm just north of the property.

A city report from the December council meeting states that Modesto faces no restrictions in selling the property, though officials expressed regret over not developing the property into a museum.

“It would have been in the best interests of the community, and we would have loved for this project to come to fruition,” Modesto spokeswoman Amy Vickery said in December. “But regrettably, the grant funding was not there; the recession hit, and now we are trying to maintain our parks and other recreational amenities with limited funding.”

City Attorney Adam Lindgren said the claim is under review.

The claim states that when the McClures sold the property, the city “expressly represented” that it would be restored and maintained for the benefit of the region and that the McClures sold the property at less than what it was worth and donated the antiques based on that representation. The claim states that the city’s attempt to sell the 16 acres is a breach of contract and that the estate seeks to rescind the deal and is offering to return the purchase price in exchange for the property.

“From the family’s perspective, this is a legal and moral issue,” said John Peltier, a Brunn & Flynn attorney and executor of the Ida A. McClure Estate. Peltier is married to Alison Peltier, one of McClure’s three daughters. The others are Kirstie Stark and Marisa McClure-Steinwachs, who live out of the area.

Alison Peltier said in December that the city had never contacted the family about its intentions to sell the property. She also expressed shock that the city has held the property for several decades and yet never developed it and allowed it to fall into disrepair. When asked last week whether the city had talked with the family, Deputy City Manager Brent Sinclair said in an email: “An official from the City will be contacting the heirs and/or their legal counsel.”

The Modesto Bee obtained, through a Public Records Act request with the city, documents related to the city’s acquisition of the property and its plan to turn it into a historical site, including:

▪  “Whereas, the City of Modesto has acquired a portion of the McClure Ranch, including the previous residence of the McClure family … it is the intention of the City of Modesto to restore said residence and furnish it as a place of historical interest,” reads a council resolution from 1975 thanking Lawrence and Ida McClure for their gift of the antiques and commending them for their “public-spirited action which will make it possible for future generations to enjoy a visit to our past.”

▪  A November 1972 memo from then Parks and Recreation Director Mary Grogan recommends that the city try to buy the farmhouse and acquire the antiques and furnishings as part of its purchase of the McClure land for Dry Creek Park.

“It is our opinion that we should attempt to purchase the home as a portion of an historic park within the Dry Creek Park,” she wrote.

Grogan also wrote that the city should try to buy the house at “less than full cash value.”

▪  “When the master plan for development of Dry Creek Park was prepared in 1971, it was proposed that a portion of the McClure property – including the old McClure mansion – be acquired as a part of the park,” wrote Deputy City Manager Marvin Ray in a 1975 memo about the need to purchase the additional 6 acres to provide direct access to Claus Road from the eastern part of Dry Creek Park.

But the sales contracts between Modesto and the McClures and the grant deeds for the two purchases make no mention of the city’s plans to turn the property into a museum, though they reference the Dry Creek Park Project. The general rule in real estate transactions is that if it is not in the contract or deed, then it does not exist. John Peltier said in an email that there are exceptions to that rule, which may apply in this case.

City officials said in December that they planned to contact adjacent property owners – including Mary C. Gallo – to see if they were interested in buying the property before using a real estate firm.

“We never pursued this property or expressed any interest in buying it before the City contacted us,” a Gallo company spokesman said in an email. “Being the neighbor, it made sense for us to listen to the City and consider the purchase since it abuts the Gallo farm.”

The spokesman said Mary C. Gallo’s intention is to farm the land if she were to buy it. He said she has no plans for the farmhouse but any future plans would follow any restrictions that come with the city declaring the farmhouse a historical landmark.

Modesto has had the property appraised but declined to release the results. State law allows local governments to withhold appraisals until a property has been sold. While it is trying to sell the 16 acres, it is keeping about 6 acres near McClure Road for Dry Creek Regional Park and roughly one-third acre near Claus Road for a well.

Commercial broker Brian Velthoen with PMZ Real Estate estimated in December that the 16 acres could be worth $35,000 to $40,000 an acre as undeveloped land. That could make it worth up to $640,000.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Modesto challenged over planned sale of McClure property."