Car dealer poised to buy vacant Poway lots

The city is proposing to sell two lots behind a Poway Road auto dealership on which it had intended to build affordable housing.

The proposed purchaser is BSM Properties, LLC, the owner of the Poway Mitsubishi Hyundai dealership at 13910 Poway Road.

Members of the city’s new post-redevelopment oversight committee were advised of the pending sale during a Tuesday morning meeting. The City Council, sitting as directors of the Poway Housing Authority, will decide next Tuesday night whether to proceed with the sale. Ownership of the lots was transferred last year from the redevelopment agency to the new housing agency when it became clear the state was intending to abolish all local redevelopment agencies.

In the works for nearly a year, the proposed sale involves two vacant lots totaling 1.2 acres, at 13917 Courier Way and 13956 Poway Road. The lots, along with a 25-foot-wide connecting access strip, are located directly behind the dealership and abut homes along Evanston and Granville drives. The two lots are zoned for residential use, while the connecting strip is zoned for automotive general commercial.

The city purchased the two lots, each with a residence on them, in 2004 for $1.2 million. The strip was purchased in 2006 as part of a land swap for $160,000. The homes were torn down last year. The city had intentions of building for-sale single-family affordable housing but the plans were scrapped following the economic downturn and the associated mortgage loan crisis, according to Tina White, the assistant city manager. State law allows for the sale of the property as long as it is sold for at least the appraised fair market value. In this case, the value has been established at $280,000. Redevelopment law does not require competitive bids, according to White.

City Manager Penny Riley told the post-development oversight board the proposed buyer has plans in place to develop homes on the two lots. The buyer could also apply to the city for a zoning change if an expansion of the existing auto dealership was desired, she said. Public hearings would be required as part of any zone change request.

Regardless of how the buyer proceeds, development of the parcels will be a strictly privately funded enterprise, Riley said, with no tax money involved.

“This is the new wave of economic development,” she said. “This is the new reality.”

The oversight board, formed by the county to follow through on the dissolution of the former redevelopment agency’s assets, went on record as having no objections to the proposed sale.

In other matters, the oversight board:

• Was told that The Affordable Housing Coalition of San Diego has filed suit against the county and state to prevent the state taking tax dollars that had formerly been allocated to redevelopment agencies to fund affordable housing programs. Poway has about $20 million in such funds. The whole question of whether Poway can continue to operate affordable housing programs remains up in the air, subject to further legal interpretations and pending state legislation.

• Agreed to recommend to the county that the city receive $1,104,013 in collected taxes to administer the post-redevelopment program from Jan. 1 to June 30 of this year, and another $414,112 for the period July 1 through Dec. 31. At this point there is no guarantee that any or all of money will be available from the county, White told the panel.

The board, chaired by former Poway Councilman Bruce Tarzy, will next meet on Nov. 13. Members said they would be available to meet before then if circumstances warrant.