Council searches for uses for ‘underutilized’ properties in city limits
The Lodi City Council discussed options on what could be done with five of the city’s underutilized properties during a shirtsleeve session Tuesday morning.
According to Adam Brucker, the city’s business development manager, staff has taken a look at 120 city-owned properties and identified five sites that are considered underutilized. He presented council with an overview of each of the sites and gave suggestions on how they could be utilized.
The former city landfill on Awani Drive, which has access to the Mokelumne River, was one of the identified properties.
The 3 1⁄2- acre site, which consists of two parcels, was sold in 1982 and repurchased by the city in 1989 for about $400,000.
Brucker said he isn’t sure of the exact reasons for the repurchase but he understands it to be related to a difficulty in redeveloping the site due to its former use. There is no current appraisal of the property, but one was conducted in 2007 when staff went through a similar effort to evaluate properties that could potentially be sold. At that time, the site was valued at $1.2 million and splitting the property into four parcels and selling them for $300,000 apiece was under consideration.
City Manager Steve Schwabauer said the city has looked at trying to get a grant to turn the space into a public access point to the Mokelumne River. Development records for the River Point and Mokelumne Village subdivisions identified the property as a public access point. However, if the former landfill was sold, a legal issue would arise over the public’s future access to the river depending on the development.
Another underutilized property that was brought to council’s attention was 22 E. Locust St.
According to Brucker, the property is 0.80 acres and was purchased in 2002 with community development block grant funds. There was about $100,000 spent on it, plus $65,000 in demolition costs.
Brucker said the original intent was to clean up dilapidated property and repurpose it as a part of an indoor sports complex. Because it was purchased with community block grant funding the city would have to repay the funds if it were to sell that property, Brucker said.
Mayor Doug Kuehne suggested the city get a current ap- praisal on the property because people have expressed interest in purchasing the site. Schwabauer said an appraisal would be $6,000 to $9,000, and suggested that council not seek an appraisal until there is a firm plan to sell.
Joseph Wood, Lodi’s neighborhood services manager, told the council that if the future use of the property met the community development block grant guidelines for serving low income residents then the city would not have to repay the funds. Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce pondered the idea of encouraging someone to build a project targeting low income residents and donating the land for the project. Wood said the city has also looked into building a community center at the location.
The former fire station at 705 E. Lodi Ave. was also identified as an underutilized property. Brucker said the property is about an acre in size and the building is 6,000 square feet. The building has been vacant since the firefighters moved to the new station on Cherokee in late 2015. The yard is currently being used for storage.
Brucker said the property is starting to become a nuisance in terms of vandalism, theft, break-ins and trespassing. He confirmed that there had been a lot of interest in the property and it has been appraised. He asked that the value be discussed in closed session.
Brucker said there is also an opportunity to dispose of the Century Boulevard right of way that’s been reserved north of Salas Park for a future grade separation. He said the separation isn’t expected to happen because there is no funding for it. Selling the right of way has been talked about before in 2007, and the three-acre property had an appraised value of $400,000.
Councilman Bob Johnson believes the property would be best used for industrial purposes and Schwabauer informed the council that a mini storage company near the location has expressed interest in the property.
125 N. Stockton St. was the final underutilized property Brucker brought to council’s attention. The property has an old Quonset hut on it and the National Guard has expressed an interest in acquiring it. The property is a quarter of an acre and the value is unknown at this point, Brucker said.
Also during the session, Johnson asked what would become of the old jail on Main Street and Brucker said he would look into that. Mounce suggested Brucker reach out to the local historical society.