RIVERSIDE: Should city give away tennis, basketball courts - blog

Posted on | October 17, 2012 | Comments

Today in clerical error news, we?ll look into how the city of Riverside has accidentally owned a 20,223-square-foot parcel for 43 years, and what will happen to the parcel now that the mistake has been discovered.

If you?re scratching your head at this point, you?re not alone. Here?s what we know so far:

The city owns a small parcel in the middle of a multi-building apartment complex on the cul-de-sac of Pearblossom Drive. It?s apparently belonged to the city since 1969, according to this staff report. But this ownership was an accident ? the report says ?the city inadvertently acquired fee title to the property during the tract development instead of an easement for recreational purposes.? Oops.

Meanwhile, the parcel was developed with a tennis court and basketball court for apartment residents. The error was discovered nearly six years ago, when the apartment complex was sold and when the new owner tried to refinance the property, the city report says. (Update: the property was sold in 2006, but the refinancing took place this February, according to an Allen Properties employee.)

Riverside has owned this recreational parcel on Pearblossom Drive since 1969 but may not have known about it until this year. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Dawson)

Which brings us to this week, when city staff proposed that the council give the parcel to apartment owner Allen Properties. Why give it away? ?The parks and recreation department has no use for the property as a recreational facility due to its location and limited access points,? says the report.

This issue raises numerous questions that the report doesn?t answer. Resident Kevin Dawson wondered whether the parcel would have to be replaced if it was counted toward the city?s total park acreage, and whether the city can legally give it away when the normal procedure is to offer surplus property for sale.

?Someone has been getting value by using the property for many years, and without paying any property tax. They now want the city to give them the property?? Dawson wrote in an email.

Such questions must have seemed relevant to council members, since they pulled the item off Tuesday?s agenda to get more information.

I?ve put out inquiries to the county assessor about the property?s current assessed value and what a private owner would have been paying in taxes. Another question, which may be harder to answer, is how someone ?inadvertently? takes title to a property. Doesn?t that require specific paperwork, signatures, etc.? And was it the error of the city in filing the papers, the county agency that recorded the transaction, or some third party?

Stay tuned for more on this story.

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Source: http://blog.pe.com/riverside/2012/10/17/riverside-should-city-give-away-tennis-basketball-courts/

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