Bainbridge council members are asking the city to get moving soon on selling its unused Suzuki property to bring in funding that can be used for the construction of a new public safety center.
The city bought the 14-acre Suzuki property in April 2000 with plans to build a decant facility for its public works department and combined police-court facility.
Neighbors objected to the idea, and years of discussion about what to do with the land stalled in 2008.
Talk on the fate of the Suzuki property was restarted last year, and the city entertained ideas of how the land could be developed with affordable housing. No consensus among the council was reached other than support for declaring the property as surplus, and the topic has remained lodged on the docket of the council’s ad hoc committee set up for the Suzuki property.
But late last week, the ad hoc committee forwarded its recommendation on what to do next with the land to the full council.
The committee is asking the council to label the land as surplus and sell it, “with the proceeds to be applied to the cost of a new public safety and municipal court facility,” according to a June 11 report from the committee to the council.
Committee members said the city should consider selling the land to a developer that would build affordable housing on the property.
The committee has also suggested that the city issue a “request for proposal” from potential buyers, with the request setting out the city’s preferred priorities for the development of the land.
Committee members also suggest a 45-day deadline for proposals.
“The committee suggests that this is a long enough time to allow careful preparation of a proposal, and a short enough time that developers with less than a very serious interest in this project will be inclined to forego submitting,” the report states.
Priorities suggested by the committee include a development plan that includes “a mix of housing types, including market-rate homes, and ownership and/or rental homes, condominiums or apartments affordable to occupants whose income excludes them from access to market rate housing.”
Another priority would be “permanent affordability” by involving a land trust or something similar in the future of the property.
Other priorities call for “green and sustainable construction” and low-impact development, as well as a site plan that protects and preserves the pond on the property as well as wildlife areas, and a layout that also allows public access to open space and trails.
“We’re suggesting a pretty broad approach to the proposals,” said Councilman Val Tollefson, a member of the ad hoc committee.
Council members have said they support the idea of selling surplus city land to help pay for a new public safety facility just north of city hall.
The sale of city properties, including the Suzuki property, the current location of the police station on Winslow Way and the surplus lands at Head-of-the-Bay, is expected to net approximately $4.5 million.
Buying property and building a new public safety building is estimated to cost between $13.8 million and $14.6 million, according to city officials.
At their meeting Tuesday, council members said they did not want to reduce the size of a bond request that may go before voters in November by assuming the project cost will be lowered by the sale of city properties.
Questions remain over how quickly the properties would be sold after they have been placed on the market, and city officials also expect to have future discussions about how the police station site at the gateway to the city may be developed as part of redevelopment of the ferry terminal area.
Deputy City Manager Morgan Smith also noted that neither the Suzuki property or the site of the city’s current police station has yet been declared surplus.
