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• Map 1 (Attachment 2) depicts the NSCA property, the fifteen acre Kirrie tract, and the Gibson Street right-of-way. As indicated on that map, the NSCA abuts the Kirrie parcel on three sides. The remainder of the Kitrie parcel borders unincorporated county property designated as residential on the Land Use Plan Map. Comprised predominately of scrub and wetlands, the North Sebastian Conservation Area property was purchased as a cost share acquisition with the Florida Communities Trust (FCT), using environmental lands bond funds as the local match. The land was purchased not only to preserve scrub, which is an endangered ecological community, but also to serve as mitigation for allowing development of several hundred Sebastian Highlands lots having building restrictions associated with the federally protected scrub jay. To address the scrub jay issue. the County worked with the City of Sebastian and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to prepare a scrub jay habitat conservation plan (HCP). Completed in 2000, the HCP served as the basis for FWS to issue an incidental take penult (ITP), allowing the development of the several hundred Sebastian Highlands building lots affected by Endangered Species Act (scrub jay) development limitations. Though the HCP and ITP, the County and City of Sebastian committed to undertake various actions. Overall those actions focus on conserving and managing various County, City, and school board properties for scrub jay habitat. Specific management activities that must be undertaken include fire management of the conservation lands, abandonment of the Gibson Street right-ot-way, selected canopy removal on conservation properties, and other actions. In association with the County's purchase of the NSCA parcels, several land ownership issues arose. Those issues relate to ownership claims made by Fred Mensing. Currently, Mr. Mensing claims ownership of two strips of property. One stnp claimed by Mr. Mensing lies along the Anstalt property boundary and runs easterly from the western edge of the property to the FEC railroad right-of-way. The other strip claimed by Mr. Mensing is the south 60 feet of lot 20, running from the Gibson Street nght-of-way to the Kirrie tract. Although the Mensing claims are shown on Map 2 (Attachment 3) for illustrative purposes, neither has been depicted on the property appraiser's parcel map. For the past couple of years, Mr. Kirrie has been attempting to get the City of Sebastian to change the land use designation of the fifteen acre tract on which he has a purchase option from residential to industrial. Initially, Mr. Kirrie's plan was to access the fifteen acre property from Gibson Street through the Lot 20 Mensing-claimed strip. Because concern was raised over whether Mr. Kirrie could obtain clear title to the Mensing strip, the City of Sebastian did not approve Mr. Kirrie's reuuest to change the land use designation of the fifteen acre tract from residential to industrial. Meanwhile, County staff, consistent with the requirements of the ITP, has initiated the process of abandoning the Gibson Street right-of-way through the NSCA. The abandonment process, however, has been put on hold until the Mensing land claim issues and the Kirrie land swap have been resolved. KIRRIE PROPOSAL: Through coordination with the county attorneys office, Mr. Kirrie developed a proposal which he presented to the Board of County Commissioners at its meeting of January 15 2J02 This proposal was structured to obtain access to the fifteen acre Kirrie parcel from FEBRUARY 5, 2002 -63- •