City Council Approves Sale of Vacant Lots Behind Poway Hyundai

The City Council on Tuesday approved the sale of two vacant lots behind on Poway Road that are owned by the city’s Housing Authority.

According to a city staff report, the owner of Poway Hyundai, BSM Properties, LLC, has offered to buy the lots for the appraised fair-market value. Tina White, assistant city manager, told the City Council that the property has been appraised at $280,000 as it is currently zoned.

“The current zoning for those two parcels is RS-7, and that would allow a single-family development on lot sizes of 4,500 square feet, which would net six to eight units per acre,” White said.

Mark Abelkop, president and general manager of Poway Hyundai, said he doesn’t have any firm plans for the property, which would need to be re-zoned for the dealership to expand onto the lots. He said that the dealership could use the extra space, but there is no guarantee that the property can be re-zoned.

“My preference is going to be to try and expand my business,” Abelkop said.

Around a dozen houses surround the property and would be affected by what is built there.

“I’ve been here for 10 years in Poway and we get along with the neighbors and we wouldn’t do anything to change that,” Abelkop said.

The 1.2-acre property was purchased in 2004 by the Poway Redevelopment Agency with low-moderate income housing funds. The agency intended to build for-sale single-family homes on the site for low- and moderate-income households, according to a staff report.

However, the mortgage loan crisis and general economic downturn prevented the Housing Authority from finding a developer that could build affordable housing on the property, White said. City staff determined that an affordable-housing development on the site “does not appear to be economically feasible.”

In early 2011, the city was contacted by Abelkop about possibly buying the property. The proceeds from the sale must be deposited into the low- and moderate-income housing fund, according to a staff report.