Progress Toward a Home for Bright Way Zen
A Home of Our Own!
Many things still need to happen before we can make this a permanent home for the Zen Center, but we are hopeful. The Burks (our teacher Domyo and her husband John) have agreed on terms of purchase with the seller and had the property inspected. We are in process of assuming the seller's mortgage and have begun our work with Washington County to get permission for religious institution use at the site. This process can take 5 months or more.
Wish us luck! Check here for updates!
More Info on the Oleson Road Property and Our Proposal ~ Zillow Listing
Our Video Tour of the Oleson Road Property
Recordings of All-Invited Sangha Meeting about This Proposal:
Audio ~ Video
Link to Questions & Answers Document
Consider donating/pledging to BWZ's long-term Capital Fund even though we have reached our short-term goal! If this particular opportunity falls through, the Capital Fund will be there for the future.
Dear Sangha,
Bright Way Zen’s Strategic Plan, adopted in 2024, identifies a goal of “working toward ownership of a physical Zen center sufficient for the Sangha’s needs by 2035.” The reasons behind this goal can be found here: Our Dream of Developing Community.
The time frame for searching for a new home was moved up because we anticipate the owners of the building we rent will want to sell within the next year or two (and we aren’t interested in buying the building in part because its parking is so constrained), and because Sangha enthusiasm is growing for having our own place, including a kitchen to use for retreats. We formed a “New Home Committee” in July of 2025. and began watching property listings.
We didn’t anticipate that a possible new home would appear so soon, but the New Home Committee and BWZ’s Board of Directors wanted to share with you this property: 8815 SW Oleson Road (click link for Zillow listing).
Click here to view a video tour of the property including intended uses.
Positives:
- Central location relative to current BWZ membership and westside population centers
- On a bus line (bus stop is right out front)
- Room for parking (25 cars easily, and more can fit with some planning an alterations), plus neighborhood parking within a few minute walk (there is a sidewalk along Oleson Road)
- Attractive and inviting setting
- A teacher’s residence or “parsonage” – this would be the front portion of the house including kitchen,* Zillow photos 8-24 (it’s very nice but not as big as it looks in the photos), allowing Domyo (and her husband) to live on site and for the Zen center to have more activities and open hours from Tuesday noon through Sunday service, including hosting AM sitting and service. *The kitchen would be available during retreats.
- A large enough room to accommodate a Zendo immediately. Zillow photos 25-27, and the diagram below that indicates 27 seats (our current Zendo has 31, which we rarely fill at this point). If we had more than 27 attendees for zazen, people could sit upstairs, and more than 27 could fit in the room for talks.
- Room for expansion: The plan would be to convert the garage into a larger Zendo, allowing the “game room” space to be converted into a kitchen + fellowship hall (or something like that).
- Three rooms for Zen center use: There are rooms above the garage (Zillow photos 28-34) that could be used for a Zen center office and library (converting the walk-in closet), multi-purpose meeting/sanzen/overnight space, and room for a possible ordained resident at some point.
- Space for Cloud members to come and stay. There’s enough room to accomodate at least one Cloud Zendo member overnight even without improvements, although there will not be access to a full kitchen. Still, it wouldn’t take much to develop this capacity further.
- Other features: Large basement for storage (Zillow photos 38-40), bathroom off Zendo/game room (Zillow photo 35), separate entrance for Zendo/Zen center (Zillow photo 36).
- Optimal location for conditional use approval: For a religious institution to legally operate on a residential property, we would have to apply for a non-confirming use permit from the county. The property is zoned R-5 and is in unincorporated Washington county, so church use is allowed as long as we meet various requirements (re: safety, transportation, etc.). The fact that the property is located on an arterial road, fully fenced and fairly private from neighbors, and directly across the street from a non-residential use are all things in our favor.
Considerations:
- Bright Way Zen is not yet in a financial position to purchase a property of this price and scale. The property would be purchased by our teacher, Domyo, and her husband John, using all of the equity from their current home.
- If the Burks are able to buy the property and Bright Way Zen is able to get a conditional use permit for operating here, the Zen center would lease the property from the Burks, covering the cost of the mortage + property insurance (about $4,000/month), utilities, and maintenance. The Zen center’s rent would be higher than it is now ($3,600/month) but it’s projected that the Zen center could afford this scenario without a signficant change in its current income. Click here for a projected 2027 Zen Center budget for this scenario. In this projected 2027 scenario, BWZ also comes closer to fulfilling its Strategic Plan goal of increasing the Total Compensation for its Teacher and Spiritual Director to $70,000. (Total Compensation includes the value of housing, in this case estimated to be around $24,000; if Domyo’s 2027 cash salary in 2027 was $35,000, her Total Compensation would be $24,000+$35,000 = $59,000. This is higher than the current budget for 2026 of $51,000.)
Because of the substantial risk the Burks are be taking in purchasing an expensive property, they asked the Bright Way Zen Sangha to raise (at least) $100,000 before they made a formal offer on this property. This capital fundraiser reached its goal several days early!
- The capital fund consists of immediate donations or pledges that would be fulfilled if/when the Burks close on this property.
- Any funds donated to this capital campaign belong to the Zen center and would be used for any capital expenses associated with establishing this new home. Capital expenses are “long-term investments in physical assets, infrastructure, or capacity-building rather than daily operating expenses.” If we move to Oleson Road, such expenses might include the costs of applying for a conditional use permit with the county, settling out of our current lease, improvements to the property required by the county for conditional use or occupancy, and improvements to the property the Zen center might want to make including painting, tech setup, the conversion of the walk-in closet into an office, and/or an external staircase for accessing the second floor of the Zen center space (above the garage). Any funds not immediately used would be dedicated toward the first steps of longer-term improvements such as converting the garage into a larger Zendo space.
- Any funds donated to the Oleson Road capital campaign will be kept in a designated capital fund for the future if this particular opportunity falls through.
- This capital fund is not only important for covering costs, it is a good faith demonstration on the part of the Sangha that the Burks are not taking a financial risk without corresponding support and commitment from the community.
Thanks to all who have pledged and donated, and to all the Sangha members trusting their board, each other, and Domyo in this process. Please feel free to ask board members or Domyo any questions you have!
– Domyo and the Bright Way Zen Board
A Home of Our Own!
Many things still need to happen before we can make this a permanent home for the Zen Center, but we are hopeful. The Burks (our teacher Domyo and her husband John) have agreed on terms of purchase with the seller and had the property inspected. We are in process of assuming the seller's mortgage and have begun our work with Washington County to get permission for religious institution use at the site. This process can take 5 months or more.
Wish us luck! Check here for updates!
More Info on the Oleson Road Property and Our Proposal ~ Zillow Listing
Our Video Tour of the Oleson Road Property
Recordings of All-Invited Sangha Meeting about This Proposal:
Audio ~ Video
Link to Questions & Answers Document
Consider donating/pledging to BWZ's long-term Capital Fund even though we have reached our short-term goal! If this particular opportunity falls through, the Capital Fund will be there for the future.
Picture Credit: Image from Zillow.
Online(Cloud) participants were invited to share their offerings as well. The online offerings included intriguing artwork, acoustic guitar & song, and an amusing haiku poetry reading.
