Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 04/11/2013

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Economic Development Authority (EDA) 4. 4. Meeting Date: 04/11/2013 Submitted For: Patrick Brama By: Patrick Brama, Administrative Services Title: City Owned Land Inventory Review Background: Periodically, the City Council directs Staff to develop an inventory of surplus City owned land. The objective of developing an inventory of surplus City owned land is to identify properties that are underutilized; and unneeded for current or future City functions. Staff conducts this procedure as outlined in the attached policy for disposition of City owned land. Disposition of underutilized City owned properties has a number of benefits to the Community: reduced property maintenance costs, reduced City liability and an increase of taxable parcels. NOTE: Increasing the number of taxable parcels within a City reduces the tax burden per property owner. The City conducted a land inventory in 2011-2012. Purpose of Case: update EDA on what properties the City owns with respect to economic development and the City owned land inventory process in general (per the request of the EDA). Observations: GENERAL FINDINGS The City of Ramsey owns over 250 parcels city-wide. The majority of these parcels are wetlands, existing or planned trails, existing or future right of ways (ROW) and greenways. The remaining parcels are open spaces, existing or planned parks, Ramsey Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) properties, Ramsey Economic Development Authority (EDA) properties and locations of various municipal facilities. Under direction of the City Council, City staff identified a list of City owned parcels that are underutilized, potentially developable and no longer needed by the City. Furthermore, staff investigated the disposition process for each of the said properties. In summary, staff identified 38 total properties as underutilized and potentially developable. After further investigation, of the 38 total properties 24 properties were found to be legally dedicated/ restricted and eight properties were found to have free and clear title. The remaining six properties were omitted for various reasons. Attached to this case is a summary table (updated in August of 2012). DEDICATED PROPERTIES The majority of dedicated/ restricted parcels were acquired from developers and originally intended for park use. However, for a number of reasons, were never developed into parks and have stood vacant for many years (more than twenty years in most cases). The most common title restriction of the 24 dedicated properties is a "public use only forever" dedication. Meaning, the 24 dedicated properties cannot legally be used for anything but a public use, regardless of the owner. Furthermore, because the City is a trustee of the 24 said properties, and not a free and clear owner, the City does not have the ability to sell said properties. In order for the City to release dedicated parcels, the "public use only forever" restriction would first need to be