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Committee holds surplus-property package after legal-form concerns and schedules further work
Summary
Staff presented a package of county parcels (about 30 tax parcels, including the old Fairmont Heights High School) proposed for surplus designation. Redevelopment Authority staff described a planned spring disposition and preferred-agency prioritization for affordable-housing or nonprofit partners. A councilmember raised a legal-process objection (inventory step requires a bill, not a resolution), and the committee moved to hold the item.
The committee considered CR80-2024, a resolution to designate county-owned parcels as surplus, an initial step that would allow the County Executive to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the properties. Staff said the package comprises roughly 30 tax parcels across districts 5, 7, 8 and 9 — totaling roughly 20 acres — with 12 parcels carrying a combined assessed value of about $7.7 million and six parcels proposed for transfer at no consideration totaling about $175,600.
County economic-development leadership (Andrew Rogers) and the Redevelopment Authority (acting director Jim Chandler and senior manager Benjamin Hobbs) explained the RDA is now administering the surplus-property disposition process and intends to return in the spring with a full disposition plan. Staff outlined a preferred-agency path to let nonprofit or redevelopment partners (including Habitat and DHCD collaborations) acquire parcels for affordable housing or other community-priority uses before general public sale.
Committee members asked detailed questions about appraisal values, parcel assemblage, advertising and auction processes, and how closed schools would be handled. Several members raised concerns about community engagement and ensuring that prior community planning is respected. Councilmember Genova objected on procedural grounds, saying the new law requires the inventory step to be done by bill and not a resolution; staff and administration acknowledged the missing bill and said they would work with the clerk and Office of Law to correct the legislative form. The committee moved to hold CR80 to allow legal and technical fixes; the motion carried (3-0 with one abstention recorded).
