College Station council selling unused land

The College Station City Council on Thursday began the process of selling some of its unused land by directing city staff to prepare a 65-acre tract near Lick Creek Park on the market.

The land, which officials think could become a neighborhood development, may be the first of eight properties across 130 acres inside and outside the city limits not being used that the government entity could dispose of in coming years.

Getting rid of such land has been suggested by the council as a way to raise money and increase the tax base.

"We are not going to be in the land developing business or the housing business," said Mayor Nancy Berry.

City officials have estimated that the property on Rock Prairie Road could be worth $1.4 million. But certain steps must be taken before it's sold, including an appraisal and an environmental assessment.

The city will rezone the site for residential use and establish requirements that the buyer must meet. Those stipulations include agreeing to a minimum lot size -- probably 8,000 square feet -- and a buffer zone between homes and Lick Creek Park. The city could require the purchaser to provide pedestrian access to the park.

Once that work is done, the city will solicit a request for proposals from developers interested in buying the property. That paperwork could go out in 60 to 90 days, city staff said.

The council voted 5 to 2 to prepare the property for sale. Council members Blanche Brick and Dave Ruesink dissented, saying they wanted to run the idea by a citizens advisory committee tasked with recommending plans for a nature center at Lick Creek Park.

"I do think it is something we should be selling; the timing of it is all that I am concerned about," Ruesink said.

Some members of the advisory board requested that the city hold off on selling the land until they could be sure that the new nature center won't need it. But the majority of the council opted to move forward with the process while keeping the board updated.

City staff continues to review other tracts of land that the council is considering selling. Notable sites include a $2.7 million piece of property on University Drive known as Chimney Hill and 3.36 acres on First Street valued at $2.9 million in the Northgate area. Both of those sites previously have been considered as a potential place for a convention center -- an idea that has been abandoned by the current council.

Another site that could bring some funds back into the city coffers is 6.15 acres on Holleman Drive appraised at $2.7 million.