County staff outline process for selling county land; adjacent owner seeks driveway lots near Toledo

Anne Schneider, community planning and development director, told the Lake County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 26 that the board is statutorily authorized to sell county-owned property and that the county’s Resolution 178 sets out the disposition process.

"Statutorily, the board is, authorized to be able to sell county owned property. And our, resolution 1 78 outlines the process," Schneider said, describing the decision steps staff uses to advise the board.

Schneider said staff evaluates how the county acquired a parcel (for example by tax deed or purchase), who is requesting the property (an adjacent owner, an equitable-title claimant or a general public interest) and whether the parcel holds any governmental purpose that would counsel against sale. She said county staff had prepared a matrix of property attributes and would present a report to the board before any formal agenda item to determine whether the land has future county value.

Staff described an existing inquiry from an adjacent property owner near Toledo that seeks to regularize a driveway crossing county-owned lots. Schneider said the parcels were originally part of property acquired for a planned Justice Center and that a driveway strip had been leased by the county after Union Pacific assigned a lease. The interested party has paid a minimal annual lease amount and now seeks to acquire the small lots and put the land on the tax rolls.

Schneider warned of several points the board must consider before any disposition: potential environmental concerns on the parcels; whether survey and title work confirms precise boundaries; how the county’s assessed value compares to market value for valuation; and the legal effect of a quitclaim conveyance. She said the existing resolution contemplates that the purchaser bears the cost of required surveys and title commitments.

Schneider also advised commissioners that equitable-title claims and claims of adverse possession are legally limited when the sovereign (the county) is the owner. "You can't have [adverse possession] against the government entity," she said, and noted that claims of equitable interest would require the claimant to provide documentation and that the county retains control of any disposition decision.

On pricing, Schneider said historically the board has often relied on assessed value to set a purchase price for small, adjacent conveyances that cure encroachments, although an appraisal could be used where market conditions require it. She told commissioners staff will produce a report that maps the underlying platted lots (which do not show clearly in county GIS parcel boundaries), lists parcel attributes and recommends whether the county should proceed with the disposition process.

Commissioners raised procedural questions including whether the existing resolution — adopted as noted in meeting materials in Feb. 2001 — should be updated to address sales or disposition processes for deed-restricted county housing projects. Schneider and staff agreed that the existing resolution serves the immediate vacant-lot conveyance process but that the county should consider an amended or separate procedure for the disposition of county-created housing or deed-restricted properties.

No formal motion, vote or immediate decision was taken at the work session; staff will prepare the property attribute report and follow the resolution and county attorney review if the board elects to advance the request.