Property auction on hold

County wants to keep land undeveloped

The proposed sale of taxpayer-owned farmland west of Delray Beach has been put on hold amid concerns from environmentalists.

Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday delayed action on the deal involving 571 acres jointly owned by the county and the South Florida Water Management District.

The land is in the Agricultural Reserve, a nearly 21,000-acre farming region where taxpayers have spent $100 million to save open space.

The district had decided to put its 60 percent share of the property on the market because plans to use it for a water reservoir fizzled. The deal would have safeguards in place to ensure the land is only used for farming, officials said.

But county commissioners on Tuesday wanted to meet with the district’s board to discuss placing further conservation restrictions on the land, as well as other options to ensure it is not developed.

Environmentalists argue that by selling the land to a private buyer, conservation restrictions could be voided in the future.

“Selling land is not the

way to preserve it,” said Lisa Interlandi, an attorney with the Everglades Law Center.

The water management district could sue to force a sale, according to an analysis by county staff. Environmentalists said the county should consider purchasing the property outright.

In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott directed the state’s five water management districts to review land holdings and look for surplus property that could be sold.

The land west of Delray Beach would be sold for a loss, according to a county analysis. The water district and the county spent about $23 million (about $36,700 an acre) to acquire the 627-acre McMurrian farm property in 2000. Pero Family Farms bought about 57 acres of the land in 2006 and leases the rest for farming.

An appraisal puts the value of the remaining 571-acre tract at $15.4 million (about $27,000 an acre). Officials say the lower appraisal reflects the expiration of development rights that made the land more valuable.

The land was purchased with a portion of $100 million in funds approved by voters in 1999 to buy about 2,400 acres in the Agricultural Reserve for preservation.

Several commissioners said during Tuesday’s meeting that they have reservations about selling land that voters thought would be preserved. It would take five votes of the sevenmember commission to sell the county’s 40 percent stake.

County Mayor Paulette Burdick said she cannot envision a scenario in which she would support selling the land.

“Listening to the will of the public is critically important,” she said. “It would set a terrible precedent on this commission and other commissions moving forward on selling land out in the Agricultural Reserve that was purchased with bond money.”

Leasing the land for farming generates about $270,000 annually in revenue, according an analysis by the water management district.