Deed restrictions on the land require the city to get a release from the Federal Aviation Administration before any sale can take place. Photo: Pixabay
By Renée Morin
The city of Sanford is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to sell approximately 40 acres of surplus land at the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport.
“We could build 200 more hangars and never need that [land],” Airport Manager Allison Navia told the council on Tuesday night. The sale will raise money for the airport and will bring the property in compliance with deed and grant restrictions barring non-aviation use of the land.
The acreage is off Rubb Lane, and the plan is to sell the land in three parcels to Rubb Buildings and the Sanford Springvale Fish and Game Protective Association. One of those parcels contains the Sanford Police Department’s shooting range, and Rubb Buildings and the SSFGPA have agreed to split the cost of purchasing this parcel. The land will continue to be used by the Sanford PD and will be divided between the two purchasers if the city no longer needs the land, Navia said.
The airport was used by the Navy during WWII, and when the land was turned over to the city by the federal government, the deed stipulated that the land could only be used for aviation purposes. The result is that any non-aviation use requires approval from the FAA. “These land releases take so much time to put together,” said Navia. “You have to get an official survey, you have to do all the deed research, [and] you have to get the appraisal done. In this particular case I was also facilitating negotiations between Rubb, the Police Department, and Sanford Springvale Fish and Game, so I went to some of their meetings and got everyone around the table and we figured out a plan to make [this project] happen.”
The FAA requires the city to sell the land at market value, and for the resulting funds to be set aside for aviation purposes, Navia said. The city has had the 40 acres appraised at around $165,000. Rubb Buildings and the SSFGPA have covered the costs relating to the land release process, including the land appraisal and survey. The city and airport have not incurred any of the costs, said Navia. If the city’s request to the FAA is approved before the update to the airport master plan is completed, then the updated property map can be included at no additional charge. If not, updating the map will cost the airport around $1,500, said Navia.
Navia said this is the third time that she has put together a land release request for airport land. Previous releases were for Sanford Airport Solar and parcels for Flemish Master Weavers and Rubb Buildings. Aviation consulting firms would typically charge $30,000 to $90,000 to put together these requests, so the city has saved significant money having the airport manager take on this task. Navia said she hopes this will be the last land release project for a while.
In addition to the land release project, there are plans to construct a vehicle service road and seacoast taxi lane between the runway and ramp at the airport. This project will be funded chiefly by the federal and state governments, with Sanford covering 2.5% of the $1,059,171 price tag, said City Councilor Ayn Hanselmann. Construction is expected to start in October and to take a month, said Navia.
The post City Inches Ahead on Plan to Sell Land Near Airport appeared first on Sanford Springvale News.
