Smith voted against the motion
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
The Apopka City Council voted 4-1 to release the mineral rights regarding the Apopka City Center. Commissioner Alexander H. Smith cast the only “no” vote.
Several motivations contributed to the City Council’s decision to release the mineral rights, including the potential buyer needing the release to secure a Small Business Administration loan and a state statute allowing the city to release reserved mineral rights. Among other factors, there was no known value to the mineral rights, and the release could spur development in the Apopka City Center, a mixed-use development located at the S.R. 436/Hwy 441 interchange that includes Winn-Dixie, the Hilton Garden Inn, and Highland Manor.
The City Council’s decision would lift a deed restriction that state statute originally required when the property was first sold.
City attorney Cliff Shepard explained that the developer, Taurus Apopka City Center, wants to sell one or more parcels.
“It was requested because Taurus is looking to sell one or more of the parcels that it controls,” Shepard told the City Council. “That’s what the request said, and that the buyer asked for as a condition to purchase the property, a release of the claim that we have per the deed that we gave them, the special warranty deed of the mineral rights.”
Shepard further clarified that the mineral rights were reserved due to state statute requirements but noted that the city is not obligated to release these rights.
“As far as I can understand, we do not have an obligation to do so, and which I clearly wanted to make sure I just point out is I have no idea whether these rights have any particular value,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s gold in them there hills, or oil in the soil, or anything, but the document does what it seeks to do, which is release those rights. Everything else is discretionary.”
In June 2018, the city sold subject property to Taurus Apopka Development, according to the city staff report in the May 21 Council agenda packet. By doing this, the city reserved a right to the minerals and petroleum under the land.
“Pursuant to the Special Warranty Deed (attached), the City of Apopka reserved a right to the minerals and petroleum under the land pursuant to F.S. 270.11(1). F.S. 270.11(1) reserves for local governments a portion of the rights to all the phosphate, minerals, and metals that are or may be in, on, or under the said land with the privilege to mine and develop the same,” according to the staff report.
Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez asked Mayor Bryan Nelson if he renegotiated that contract when he first became mayor in 2018. Nelson said the portion of the contract Velazquez was referring to was under then-Mayor Joe Kilsheimer and then-Commissioner Kyle Becker.
However, when Commissioner Nick Nesta asked Nelson if he had the opportunity to renegotiate it, Nelson said, “I guess I did.”
“So, you can blame others, but you got the opportunity to fix it,” Nesta said.
Commissioner Nadia Anderson confirmed with Shepard that the deed restriction is part of the deed itself and cannot be renegotiated.
Anderson said that in speaking with Taurus, she understood that the buyer was unable to secure a loan through the SBA.
There’s a state statute that required the city of Apopka to retain the mineral rights when selling the property, and that was what the deed does, according to Shepard.
“They’ve now requested that we release those rights, and there’s nothing that I can find it which would keep us legally from doing so,” Shepard said. “That said, there’s also nothing that would compel us to.”
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively.
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