FELLSMERE — The Fellsmere City Council is ready to reconsider selling a piece of city-owned property to the adjacent homeowners. That piece of land is located on the southwest corner of Massachusetts and Willow.
The Gamez family is prepared to pay the city $8,750, which is what the city has been asking for since May when the council first considered selling the unneeded lot.
The family will not be allowed to build on the lot and will be required to relocate a driveway farther from the intersection to improve safety there.
Lina and Heriberto Gamez approached the city earlier this year to buy the empty lot as a way to address their parking needs. The family had been parking their vehicles on the lot before the city notified them that they were violating city code.
“We’re moving forward with it,” City Manager Jason Nunemaker told the Fellsmere City Council Thursday evening, noting that, with council’s blessing, a public hearing would be scheduled in August as part of the process to sell off the lot.
Under city code, the Fellsmere City Council is allowed to negotiate a sale of city-owned land when that land is deemed unneeded for public use.
Though the Fellsmere City Council appeared supportive of setting a public hearing for the potential sale, Mayor Susan Adams has previously expressed concern regarding setting a precedence for others in the city.
In May, she mentioned that there are other places in Fellsmere where property owners might consider parking their vehicles on a vacant piece of property next door. Doing so might result in the city again considering selling a piece of its land to the neighbor to address the parking violations.
The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. on Aug. 18 in the council chambers.
