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WINSLOW — Winslow business owners, Gene Hancock and Andrew Payne, of Payne & Payne Enterprises purchased 10 acres of city owned property last week located near the intersection of North Road and Santa Fe Drive, also known as the Old Golf Course. The Winslow City Council approved the purchase after a discussion during the regular council meeting Jan. 22.
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The discussion resulted in Mayor Tom McCauley calling for a policy change in the way that Winslow sells its development properties. Before the change, those that purchased city-owned property in Winslow were given five years to develop the parcel before it was re-purchased by the city. This clause prevented the use of the land for any other venture until the five-year period had lapsed. McCauley said, “When we sell a property, especially one that is in such a prime location, we need to make sure we are getting the best use out of it.”
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Community Development Director Paul Ferris explained, “The buyer has to initiate construction or have a construction loan placed on the property within 180 days or the buyer will have to quitclaim it back to the city. The Clawback Clause states the buyer should not sell the property for five calendar years unless it has been improved with a building that has been approved with a certificate of occupancy by the city.”
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McCauley said, “That means that if they don’t have anything substantial within five years after they begin construction and it comes back to us; it means we sat on a property for five years. We need to be at substantial completion before 24 months so that people don’t just buy chunks of land and sit on them. We had addressed this policy issue when I was on the council before from 2000 to 2004. I would like to have a sit down about the way that we sell property in this town. If someone else comes knocking on our door and wants to buy property that isn’t complete, we don’t have any recourse for five years.”
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McCauley then instructed staff to look toward a policy change. In his motion to approve the land purchase he said, “I would move that we approve Ordinance 1333 authorizing the sale of property to Payne & Payne Enterprises, LLC with the following addendum: the buyer must begin construction within 180 days, have substantial completion at 24 months and be within a certificate of occupancy within 24 months plus 90 days.”
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The motion passed unanimously in the absence of Councilman Rickey Jackson.
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Hancock told the council that the plans for the land include moving an existing business to it. “We want to move RT Rentals from the 900 block of West Fourth Street to this location. This will help us and bring more tax revenue for the city.”
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The next step for Payne & Payne is to go before the Planning and Zoning Committee on Feb. 11 to address approval of a Special Development Overlay to allow retail as well as agricultural and residential uses.
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