Milton council to move forward with due diligence on land purchase
Milton Town Council is moving forward with a 60-day due diligence period to see whether it is feasible to purchase a collection of six properties located between Magnolia and Broad streets that could be turned to a municipal use.
The town has entered into a conditional sales agreement for the six parcels at 117 and 119 Broad St.; 111, 113 and 115 Magnolia St.; and 203 Mulberry St. Together, the lots are about 2 acres. The lot at 113 Magnolia St. was the home of former Councilwoman Leah Betts, who died in January 2024. The town has agreed on a price of $1.6 million for the parcels.
At council’s March 3 meeting, Town Manager Kristy Rogers said about a month ago, the six parcels were listed for sale. She said she viewed the purchase of the properties as a great opportunity for the town, as it would be land right in the heart of downtown. She said the need for additional services downtown, such as parking or municipal functions, is there.
To be determined during the due diligence period is whether the town can build anything there. Rogers said that period will include analyzing the soils, conducting surveying to see what acreage could be used, seeing how the floodplain impacts the parcels and planning for what could go on the parcels.
Rogers said the town will know more once surveying and soil testing are conducted, as those could reveal potential red flags.
Vice Mayor Lee Revis-Plank questioned what the town would do with the houses currently on the parcels, as demolition and removal of the structures, grading and leveling will all add cost to the project. She also questioned the town planning to build something in and around a floodplain area and what kind of costs that would add in terms of insurance.
Mayor John Collier said one part of a topographic survey of the parcels will be to find where exactly the floodplain line is.
“That may end it all for us right there,” he said. “But at this particular point in time, we put ourselves in position, if we want to move forward from here, to have a real answer.”
Collier has said he would like to see the land used as a potential spot for either a new police station or as meeting space for the town. But at this point, that’s all still to be determined.
“Until we have further information, we can’t say we’re going to build A, B, C or D,” he said.
The land has been used as residential, but most of it is within town center zoning, which has a wide variety of uses including government use.
Julia Smith, who lives across the street from the parcels that front Magnolia Street, said she would be happy if a new police station was built there, but also stated that the area does experience a large amount of stormwater runoff.
Jim Swago, of Broad Street, whose house neighbors the property, questioned what limits there would be on the town’s uses of the parcels. Collier said given the zoning, there is a whole swath of uses that could go there, and if the land went back on the market, it could be turned into a commercial venture or a mixed-use facility with residential and commercial.
Local Realtor and Milton resident Nitan Soni said, “I would much rather the town secure land within its town limits so it can service the people of Milton, versus those parcels being sold to independent people who would then turn around and do with that parcel whatever they wished, which you would have zero control over.”
