BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Starke has made a counteroffer to purchase Call Street property, although plans for the property or the surrounding properties remain unclear.
The city previously advertised for proposals to purchase property within a one and a half block area bordered on the north and south by Call Street and Madison Street and on the east and west by Church Street and the railroad crossing.
Two proposals were submitted, and the top proposal, submitted by John and Elizabeth Jarmon, offered 320 E. Call St. for $225,000. The city voted to move forward and conduct an environmental analysis of the property.
City Manager Drew Mullins reported back to the board Feb. 20, recommending the city offer $175,000 to the Jarmons if the commission was still interested in purchasing the property.
Some commissioners were interested, but others were not.
Commissioners Shannon Smith was skeptical of spending additional funds beyond the purchase price to create a new city parking lot, if that is what is planned for the property. Commissioner Janice Mortimer asked if that was the plan, and Mullins said it would be up to the commission to decide how to use the property.
Mortimer said she wasn’t interested in purchasing the property anyway.
Commissioner Danny Nugent said the city could place lime rock on the undeveloped part of the property to avoid the stormwater retention requirements of a new asphalt parking lot. Commissioner Andy Redding said they could speculate about the use of the property. He wanted to know about any plans to acquire additional properties in that area. Mullins said there was nothing that they could discuss.
Redding said the property isn’t going anywhere, so the commission could take its time to evaluate the property’s potential.
“I’m not saying we should drag our feet, but we want to make sure that this is exactly where we need to be,” he said.
Mayor Scott Roberts, however, said he was interested in the possibility of purchasing this property and additional properties so the commission could control what happens there.
“I think there’s a number of things that we could use it for,” Roberts said, without being specific. It has more potential than demolishing everything to create more parking.
“I think it has a lot of potential. I think the upside is way more than the downside,” he said. “I rather that be in our control. It is an asset. If we buy something and decide later not to have it, we can always sell it.”
The vote to offer $175,000 for the property was 3-2, with Mortimer and Smith dissenting.
In other business:
—The commission finalized the rezoning and future land use map changes for 7.8 acres at the corner of S.R. 16 and Weldon Street. It was acquired by R3 Ventures-FL Inc. last October. The applicant requested the land be changed from single-family residential development to highway commercial.
According to their website, RH Development Group has helped develop more than 40 grocery-anchored shopping centers and 4.2 million square feet of retail space.
