CLEARLAKE — The Clearlake Redevelopment Oversight Board took action Thursday to transfer public use properties from the former Redevelopment Agency (RDA) to the City of Clearlake.
The properties transferred combine for a $3,284,946 value. The amount reflects the value of the properties at the time they were acquired by the RDA and is not necessarily the present market value, according to Interim Finance Director Sandra Soto.
The Clearlake Successor Agency has identified the majority of public use properties. Not all properties have been evaluated and it is possible that a recommendation on transferring other properties will be made in the future, Soto said.
The following properties were approved for transfer on Wednesday:
City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, parcel No. 039-530-21 valued at $1,880,238.
Highland Park Visitor Center, 14295 Lakeshore Drive, parcel No. 040-092-09 valued at $208,417.
6393 James Street, parcel No. 042-052-19 valued at $84,000. The parcel was identified as being needed for drainage.
Public Works Corporation Yard is comprised of six parcels. The parcels house the corporation yard buildings including a storage building and a Lake County Fire Protection District fire station. Another part of the site will be needed for a future road that will connect Highway 53 and Old Highway 53 as part of the overall improvement planned by CalTrans for Highway 53. The six parcels that comprise the site are 6820 Old Highway 53 ($541,818), 6828 Old Highway 53 ($375,000), 6356 Armijo Street ($120,000), 6377 Armijo Street ($55,000), 6439 Vallejo Street ($10,472) and 6459 Vallejo Street ($10,000).
Soto said that the remaining properties appear to be residential in nature and 42 of the 44 residential parcels represent parcels sold by the city to the RDA under a loan agreement, which the State Department of Finance has demanded be removed as an essential obligation of the RDA.
“This means that the loan used to fund the purchase of these properties is essentially voided and will not be repaid,” Soto said. “Under these circumstances, staff is looking into whether these properties can simply be sold and the proceeds given to the property tax transfer fund held by the county for distribution to all agencies.”
Soto said to further complicate matters for 24 of the 44 parcels ownership was transferred to the Set-Aside Fund by the auditors in 2007-08 because these parcels were being held for resale to be developed as low and moderate income properties. “Under these circumstances staff does not feel it is appropriate to transfer these properties to the Housing Successor Agency at this time,” Soto said. “In any event, at the present time there may not be a market for these residential properties and therefore it is likely that these properties will not be placed on the market in the next few months.”
