DIS- 2284
Items For Discussion 1.
Work Session Board of Supervisors
Board of Supervisors
- Meeting Date:
- 03/25/2015
- Title:
- Joint Work Session with SV City Council regarding Clean Up of Fry Townsite
- Submitted By:
- Britt Hanson, County Attorney
- Department:
- County Attorney
Presentation:
PowerPoint
NAME
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Jim Vlahovich and Britt Hanson
TITLE
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
Deputy County Administrator and Chief Civil Deputy County Attorney
ORGANIZATION NAME
of PRESENTER:
of PRESENTER:
None
Information
Agenda Item Text:
Discussion of Strategies for Cleaning Up the Fry Townsite Area, including possible acquisition of parcels.
Background:
The proposal to clean up the Fry Townsite area by acquiring parcels and funding the clean up of them is set forth in more detail in the White Paper that is attached to this agenda item.
The genesis of this proposal was a meeting with Fry area residents in 2014 who were asking the City and County to help deal with crime, junked properties, and other issues in Fry. After the meeting, Mr. Hanson asked County Planning Director Beverly Wilson and Zoning Enforcement Officer Chris Saylor about past and current County efforts in enforcing zoning violations in the area. Mr. Saylor prepared a spreadsheet showing enforcement actions over the past 10 years on 25 separate parcels owned by one person and related entities, with current enforcement actions in progress. It became apparent that while the individual enforcement actions had some effect, overall enforcement has been basically a whack-a-mole process: one parcel is cleaned up, while another gets junked up. Lack of vigorous zoning enforcement wasn’t the issue; it just wasn’t having sufficient effect as is necessary to effectively clean up the Fry area
Accordingly, County and City officials arranged for a joint tour of Fry, including specific parcels, to see if a new approach might be possible. Prior to the tour, Mr. Saylor and Mr. Hanson, working with County Treasurer Kathy Traywick and her staff, put together a list of parcels in Fry that are delinquent in property taxes. As it turned out, numerous parcels are delinquent, with many of them so far delinquent that they can be deeded to the State and auctioned by the County Board of Supervisors. Details of that process are contained in the attachments to the agenda item. The basic idea would be for the City, the County, or some third party to purchase these parcels at auction and clean them up.
As a separate and additional tool, Mr. Hanson pointed out that the County has obtained judgments against two property owners in the Fry area and has two judgment liens totaling around $90,000. The County Attorney could arrange to acquire parcels owned by these two owners by levying on the judgment liens. Again, the purpose of acquiring parcels in this manner would be to clean them up.
Of all the many parcels that might be acquired and cleaned up to have the most positive impact on the city/county neighborhood as a whole, City staff have identified “priority” parcels that could also serve as opportunities for redevelopment. County Assessor Phil Leiendecker and his staff have looked at these parcels and provided estimates of fair market value. These estimates do not take into account the cost to clean up these parcels, which in many cases would be substantial. The County has retained an environmental firm to estimate the costs to clean them up.
County and City staff and the County Attorney who have put the proposal together believe that while it is aggressive, it is also fair and is better than any alternative proposals. We are looking for direction from the Board of Supervisors and City Council to proceed with the proposal.
The genesis of this proposal was a meeting with Fry area residents in 2014 who were asking the City and County to help deal with crime, junked properties, and other issues in Fry. After the meeting, Mr. Hanson asked County Planning Director Beverly Wilson and Zoning Enforcement Officer Chris Saylor about past and current County efforts in enforcing zoning violations in the area. Mr. Saylor prepared a spreadsheet showing enforcement actions over the past 10 years on 25 separate parcels owned by one person and related entities, with current enforcement actions in progress. It became apparent that while the individual enforcement actions had some effect, overall enforcement has been basically a whack-a-mole process: one parcel is cleaned up, while another gets junked up. Lack of vigorous zoning enforcement wasn’t the issue; it just wasn’t having sufficient effect as is necessary to effectively clean up the Fry area
Accordingly, County and City officials arranged for a joint tour of Fry, including specific parcels, to see if a new approach might be possible. Prior to the tour, Mr. Saylor and Mr. Hanson, working with County Treasurer Kathy Traywick and her staff, put together a list of parcels in Fry that are delinquent in property taxes. As it turned out, numerous parcels are delinquent, with many of them so far delinquent that they can be deeded to the State and auctioned by the County Board of Supervisors. Details of that process are contained in the attachments to the agenda item. The basic idea would be for the City, the County, or some third party to purchase these parcels at auction and clean them up.
As a separate and additional tool, Mr. Hanson pointed out that the County has obtained judgments against two property owners in the Fry area and has two judgment liens totaling around $90,000. The County Attorney could arrange to acquire parcels owned by these two owners by levying on the judgment liens. Again, the purpose of acquiring parcels in this manner would be to clean them up.
Of all the many parcels that might be acquired and cleaned up to have the most positive impact on the city/county neighborhood as a whole, City staff have identified “priority” parcels that could also serve as opportunities for redevelopment. County Assessor Phil Leiendecker and his staff have looked at these parcels and provided estimates of fair market value. These estimates do not take into account the cost to clean up these parcels, which in many cases would be substantial. The County has retained an environmental firm to estimate the costs to clean them up.
County and City staff and the County Attorney who have put the proposal together believe that while it is aggressive, it is also fair and is better than any alternative proposals. We are looking for direction from the Board of Supervisors and City Council to proceed with the proposal.
To BOS Staff: Document Disposition/Follow-Up:
No document follow up is required. However, City and County staff, with the County Attorney, will be focusing on specific parcels to acquire and clean up, and a process for doing so.