Petersburg’s local tribe will negotiate with Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht to buy nearly eight acres of borough land. The Borough Assembly voted unanimously at Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting to allow a direct sale to the Petersburg Indian Association, or PIA. The Tribe plans to build a subdivision of rental properties on the land with 40 to 60 units.
Assemblymember Jeigh Stanton Gregor made the motion to sell the land directly to the tribe.
“PIA has larger housing goals to try to support the community,” he said. “I think right now, this method of doing so makes sense to help them push that project along, and therefore help the community.”
The vote was complicated by confusion over the specific pieces of land for sale. The eight acres that PIA wants to buy has never been subdivided. It appears as multiple pieces of land on some borough maps. But according to Community Development Director Liz Cabrera, it is one single piece of land that was carved out of an even larger chunk of land. Cabrera said it needs to be subdivided before it can be sold, which the Tribe has looked into.
“PIA has already gone through the process of hiring a surveyor and having a legal survey done, but that survey hasn’t been approved yet,” she explained. “So you would never sign off on the deed or anything until we actually have a survey and a legal description.”
PIA’s survey is scheduled to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission this month. The Commission has authority to approve subdivision platts on its own. Meanwhile, Borough Manager Geisbrecht plans to negotiate a price for the land with PIA officials.
Recently changed borough code allows federally recognized tribes to buy borough property for less than its assessed value if they can prove they’ll use the land for public good. In August, the Borough sold PIA a small parcel of land on 12th Street for about 15% below its assessed value, voting unanimously in favor of the move.
The land in question sits on either side of North 8th Street and straddles a popular walking trail that connects downtown Petersburg with the ballfield and whale observatory. PIA Council President Cris Morrison said the plan is to have a 50-foot wide corridor of land along the trail that stays in Borough ownership.
“We value the trails,” she said. “We do not wish to own the property on which the trail has been constructed. The platt that we surveyed has a 50 foot width along that trail.”
Morrison said this new subdivision could include a mix of single-family homes and duplexes. The rentals will likely include some affordable housing units. They would be available to all, but Tribal citizens would have preference.
Petersburg has a housing shortage. A survey earlier this year by a housing task force found the town will need more than 300 new or refurbished homes over the next decade.
