9/17/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

M ® r Purchaser: Indian River County Hoard of County commissioners / Florida Communities Trust (Indian River County will hold title) Seller: 41 Individual Lot owners (see attached list) Cost -Share: Florida Communities Trust (508) (includes share of acquisition costs) Total Price: 6396,900 (average +;8,461 per lot) Other Costs: • +630,000 (appraisal, environ. audit, title insurance, management plan) • 652,658.96 (Utilities water line assessments applying to 33 of the 47 lots) Const Honda tore: +6266,109 (not including initial management costs) Acres e: 47 Late (+1/4 acre each, +11.75 acres) Principal Condition: • Closing subject to county Commission and PICT Governing Body approval of purchase contracts and project plan, including management plan. • Staff is recommending that the County pay the recently assessed Utilities water line assessment fees with bond funds, as part of .acquisition costs. LAAC Recommendation: • The County Land Acquisition Advisory Committee (LAAC), at its meeting on August 28, 1996, voted 14 to 1 to recommend that the Board not approve the purchase contracts, maintaining its position that the overall project should not be acquired because of anticipated management difficulties, since the property is located within an active, developing subdivision. DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS The subject Sebastian Highlands Scrub property was approved in early 1995 as a Florida Communities Trust (FCT) 508 cost -share project. In 1995, the Sebastian Highlands Scrub project was ranked 14th out of 19 projects on the LAAC site acquisition list. The project is currently ranked 13th out of 15 sites. The City of Sebastian has expressed support of the overall project because the. project will alleviate conflicts within the City concerning endangered species protection vs. private development rights. The initial overall Sebastian Highlands Scrub project consisted of +180 lots. At a public hearing on July 16, 1996, -the Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of "Phase I" of the project by agreeing to buy 50 of 56 lots owned by Atlantic Gulf Communities (AGC). At that meeting, with acknowledgement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Board eliminated from the overall project the northern group of 26 lots,. which were determined by the FWS to be no longer crucial to the success of the project. In its application for state cost -share funding, the County chose to be the lead agency for pre-acquisition tasks and negotiations. During the past year, the county's acquisition consultant, in coordination with county staff, has conducted pre-acquisition tasks and negotiations. Since the owners of the herein described lots within the project have accepted and executed purchase contracts, appraisal results for those lots have recently been released. *Advertised Public Meeting This public hearing has been advertised +30 days in advance to fulfill a State statute requirement that the County hold a public meeting after having provided at least 30 days advertised public notice to formally consider approving and exercising its purchase contracts for the Sebastian Highlands Scrub Phase II lots. The State requirement that the Board hold a public meeting to consider exercising its option after having provided 30 days advertised notice of the meeting applies because the County chose to keep its appraisal of the subject lots confidential until the sellers executed a binding contract. Once that contract had been signed, the appraisal was released and has been available to the public during the 30 day period prior to the advertised public meeting. Besides meeting State statute requirements, the hearing on the subject lots will serve to meet a Land Acquisition Guide requirement that the County hold a public hearing prior to purchasing any property with land acquisition bond funds. SEPTEMBER 17, 1996 29 SOOK 99 FAy� �53