City Council picks pricier parking option

Even if leasing land for a public parking lot is a good deal today, it won’t be in 50 years, Destin City Councilor Sam Seevers says.

“After spending almost $2.8 million in taxpayer dollars, at the end of the road, we own nothing, we have nothing for our children and grandchildren.” Seevers told the council Monday night. “I have a hard time spending that much money on nothing.”

While several councilors disagreed with Seevers, the majority ultimately voted to proceed with a plan to buy land for a harbor-district parking lot from the Clancy Company for $3.125 million, providing the remaining legal issues can be worked out.

The city had struck a deal to buy the Clancy land — 2.12 acres between Mountain Drive and Harbor Boulevard — earlier this year, but company reps didn’t show for the closing. Since then, the property mortgage-holder has begun foreclosure proceedings and the company has told the city it’s ready to sell.

St. Andrew’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, however, has offered to lease its .86 acre parking lot on Mountain Drive to the city. After debating the choices at the Nov. 2 meeting, the council told City Manager Greg Kisela to have a financial analyst study the alternatives.

The analyst reported back that the cost of the Clancy purchase over 50 years would be roughly $3.7 million; the lease of the church lot came in at $2.9 million.

The figures didn’t change the council’s positions.

Jim Bagby repeated his Nov. 2 argument that the value of the Clancy land had gone down since spring, and called for a new appraisal. Sandy Trammell and Kelly Windes said the church property was too far away, not visible from U.S. 98 and wouldn’t work for Destin harbor visitors.

“You’ll have vagrants living over there and roaches and used syringes on the floor,” Windes said.

Seevers argued that the property could be worth 10 times the purchase price in 50 years. Councilor Tom Weidenhamer replied that the City Hall Annex might be too, but that didn’t help the bottom line unless they sold it; the city could do more for its residents if it paid less money for the parking lot, and that was more important than collecting real estate assets.

Mayor Craig Barker said he’d been convinced buying the land would be a clear winner, and was surprised that the lease was the more cost-effective option.

Bagby moved to have the value reappraised, though City Attorney Jerry Miller said if it came in at a lower value, the city couldn’t hold the Clancy Company to its contract. The motion failed 3-2, with Bagby and Weidenhamer voting yes, Jim Wood, Seevers and Trammell voting no and Windes and Dewey Destin abstaining because of a conflict of interest. Windes and Destin own neighboring property to the city’s planned Jewel Melvin Heritage Park.

The council then voted 3-2 to have Miller update the title search, reissue a commitment for title insurance, review the title-search results and return with a recommendation for closing. Weidenhamer and Bagby voted no, Trammell, Wood and Seevers voted yes and Destin and Windes abstained.