Kane County begins inventory review of county-owned parcels, eyes sales and reassignments

Kane County staff presented a countywide inventory of owned parcels on Wednesday and asked the Administration Committee to identify priority sites for more-detailed analysis of zoning, environmental constraints and market value ahead of any sale or transfer.

Roger Fonstock, who led the property review for the county’s GIS and asset teams, said the spreadsheet identifies county parcel numbers, deeded and calculated acreage and a short use description. “The ones in yellow are the county parcels that have our buildings on them and our uses,” Fonstock said. “The blue highlighted ones are the former sheriff’s campus on Fabian and the farm field north of the Judicial Center.”

Staff noted the Fabian site includes a small storage building, the county recycling center, a historic house referred to in the materials as the Masa White House, and a 427-foot radio tower operated by Crown Castle. Fonstock also said the farm field north of the Judicial Center is subject to a “public act” constraint that restricts its use to criminal court-related purposes.

Tom Rickert of the Division of Transportation said roughly 66 parcels on the list are Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) right-of-way parcels that are being conveyed or in discussion with local partners. “There’s a number of parcels that we recently, by agreement, conveyed,” Rickert said, citing ongoing transfers to the Forest Preserve and township park districts along the Stearns Road corridor and other road corridors.

Committee members and staff discussed several parcels of operational interest: a Seabee Road gravel/maintenance site that includes a salt dome and fenced storage, described in the packet as about 10 acres; larger Mill Creek or bluff-area parcels that may be unsuitable for development because they are wetlands or detention areas; and the Fabian and Judicial Center parcels where eyesore trailers and sheriff impound vehicles are presently staged.

Several committee members suggested looking at revenue options (sale, lease, mining, solar lease) for parcels the county does not need. “If we offload stuff that we ultimately determine we don't need, that's going back on the property tax rolls,” said a committee member during the discussion. Tom Rickert and staff agreed to color-code known KDOT parcels and continue cleaning up title and conveyance records.

Next steps agreed by staff and the committee included a targeted follow-up on high-priority parcels: confirm parcel legal description and recorded acreage, zoning and classification, environmental constraints and potential liabilities, and a broker opinion of value or an appraisal where appropriate. Staff said the county’s broker already has the parcel list and will prepare opinions of value for committee-selected targets. Fonstock asked committee members to identify their top five to ten parcels for the broker to analyze first.

Ending: Committee members called the inventory a productive start and asked staff to return with parcel profiles (zoning, environmental constraints, condition assessments, liabilities and a recommended disposition: retain, convey to partner such as the Forest Preserve, lease or sell). No disposal actions were taken at Wednesday’s meeting; staff will return with targeted analyses and market valuations.