Agenda - Council - 04/11/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Highest and Best Use —As Improved The Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal, Fifth Edition (Appraisal Institute, Chicago, 2010) defines highest and best use of the property as improved as: The use that should be made of a property as it exists. An existing improvement should be renovated or retained as is so long as it continues to contribute to the total market value of the property, or until the return from a new improvement would more than offset the cost of demolishing the existing building and constructing a new one. In analyzing the Highest and Best Use of a property as improved, it is recognized that the improvements should continue to be used until it is financially advantageous to alter physical elements of the structure or to demolish it and build a new one. Physically Possible The subject improvements were constructed in 2003. In the "as-is" condition, the property is configured for gas station and car wash use, with a small retail/restaurant component. However, as discussed earlier, the access to the subject (right-in, right-out only from both northbound Highway 10 and southbound Sunfish Lake Boulevard), significantly impacts the possible uses of the subject. It would be physically possible to remove the subject's canopy and underground fuel tanks, and to convert the car wash space and demise the interior of the c-store space to accommodate a general retail use. This would result in a use similar to the adjacent retail center to the west of the subject, which shares the same access as the subject. Legally Permissible As described in the Zoning Analysis section of this report, the subject site is zoned H1 - Highway 10 Business District.The site is improved with an existing gas station/retail building. In the Zoning section of this appraisal, we determined that the existing improvements represent a legal nonconforming use. Again, permitted uses within this district include various non-traffic intensive commercial uses. Given the interim nature of this zoning district, new development on the subject site, if it were vacant, would likely be limited. However, as discussed in our Hypothetical Condition, we are envoking the Scope of the Project Rule, and are therefore considering the potential legally permissible uses of the subject outside of the proposed project. Based on our analysis of the zoning code, it appears that the desired uses include commercial uses that minimize traffic and access. This is already a limitation posed to the subject property given its existing access configuration. 54