Carl H. Benjamin lot 8, block 1445

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---.... ~ . . -" ~ . . City of La Po,rte Confidential Interoffice Memorandum '- / To: Mayor & City Council From: John Joems, Assistant Ci Stephen L. Barr, Director of P Through: Update. Benjamin Property Access As YO,u may recall, Mr, Car1 Benjamin purchased Lots 25-32, Block 1445 for the purpose of building a home. The property is adjacent to the Little ,Cedar. Bayou Park, east of Broadway. Mr. Benjamin's pro~~"is adjaqent to the lip" Street right-of-way on which the parking area i~ located for the Little, Cedar Bayou Nature Trail. The property i,s zoned R-3 and is appropriate for. single family -residential building. . . The lip" Street right-of-way was never closed as a part of the Little Cedar Bayou Park project. . There are no paved 'streets that can serve as access to the aenjamin property. In addition, the small Nature Trail bridge over the ditch adjacent to the Park Street right-of-way was inadvertently built on what is now the northeast com~r of Mr. Benjamin's property (see map). The City cannot ' deny access to the property through the existing right-of-way. ' Staff has met with Mr. Benjamin and has discussed, in principle (subject to Council approval), a plan that will meet both the City's and Mr. Benjamin's needs. Staff proposes to purchase Lots 7 & 8 of Block 1445. These lots are 25' X 125' in size, The purchase would allow the use of one lot to provide access from Broadway for Mr. Benjamin. Staff would use force account materials, equipment, and labor to build an access drive for Mr. Benjamin, using Lot 7. UR()~pletien;1tfe'-' City would deed the property to Mr. Benjamin. In exchange, Mr. Benjamin woulathen deed the portion of his property on Lot 32 containing the bridge to the City. The remaining lot (Lot 8) could be sold using the City's bid process (Mr. AI Pennison, the adjoining property owner, has expressed interest in purchasing the lot). ' , ," Estimated costs of the proposed solution are $7,000 for purchase of the lots; $6,500 for driveway installation. Offsetting these costs would be: $550 as value of land acquired from Mr. Benjamin; potential to sell Lot '8 to the adjoining property owner or other interested party at auction ($3,150, minimum). Net cost of the proposed solution would be approximately $9,800. The initial land purchase would be accomplished using Capital Project contingency funds, should Council approve . the concept. Staff looked at two other possible options to accomplish the desired goal, but these were found to be impractical. Staff recommends that the City proceed with this proposed solution. If approved, it will achieve: 1) access to the Benjamin property without disruption of LCB Park operations, 2) allows unimpeded access for emergency vehicles to the Benjamin property, and 3) eliminE:ltes th~ need to move or replace the Nature Trail Bridge. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to give me a call. '