Property is last piece to construct new public safety building
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
On Wednesday, March 5, the Apopka City Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the acquisition of a Seventh Street property via eminent domain, if necessary, to construct a new public safety building.
City administrator Jacob Smith and city attorney Cliff Shepard are tasked with executing this resolution.
The property in question, consisting of a single-family residence at 123 E. Seventh St., is the last one needed for the public safety building. This new building would house city departments, including fire, police, an emergency communications center and the information technology department.
The current Apopka Municipal Justice Building, where the police department is located, stands at 112 E. Sixth Street on about 1.7-gross acres of real property.
“This is the remaining property on Seventh Street that we don’t have, to complete the public safety building we’ve been working on for numerous years,” Police Chief Michael McKinley said at the council meeting. “This goes back to [late city administrator] Mr. [Edward] Bass trying to resolve this issue for us to purchase the property, or work with them to obtain this property so that we have all the property on that block to complete the public safety building.”
The city has tried working with the owners and their attorney, but the owners prefer eminent domain for the possible tax benefits, McKinley said.
Eminent domain refers to the power of the government—repeatedly upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court—to take someone’s property for public use, as long as the government provides “just compensation.”
Shepard said he tried reaching out to their attorney but was unable to get in touch. Besides attempted negotiations, the city also offered fair market value, which was rejected, and an appraisal showing that the property’s value was significantly higher than the owners’ last offer.
The Seventh Street property, a three-bedroom, two-bath house built in 1961, has a 2024 market and assessed value of $61,495, according to Orange County records. The owner on record is McGee Family Trust.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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