Church, Borough at Odds Over Rental Fee for Lot

STONE HARBOR – Part of the plans for flood mitigation in Stone Harbor includes reworking the pump station at 93rd Street and Third Avenue.
The construction is most easily supported if the borough contractor could utilize the undeveloped lot next door for a crane location along with stacking needed supplies. 
The lot, owned by Our Saviour Lutheran Church, across Third Avenue from the church, was the subject of discussion at the April 3 council work session. The church’s request for $150,000 for use of the lot was treated with astonishment by several council members. 
The borough’s offer of $50,000 for use of the lot for a 20-month period was rejected by the church which is seeking the higher fee.
A church representative admitted that the lot is undeveloped and that the church has no existing plans for its use in the period being discussed.
Speaking of “fair market value” of the land, reasonable return on that value for the borough’s use of it, and rates of return that are already below the average market, the church representative urged the council to treat the request like any business transaction.
Council President Karen Lane pointed to the amount of taxes the church is able to avoid in the borough and the fact that the borough was willing to landscape the lot when it concluded its use, but her comments had no impact on the fee being sought.
Both Lane and Joselyn Rich expressed astonishment that the church would ask the borough’s taxpayers to foot so high a fee for use of a lot that otherwise sits unimproved and largely unused.
Lane also pointed to the benefits to the church itself, across the street from the lot, when the new mitigation infrastructure decreases the frequent flooding in the area. The response was that remediating flooding is the legitimate job of the borough, not the church.
One alternative to use of the lot would be to locate the crane on 93rd Street in front of the pump station, the obvious drawback being the need to close the street for an extended period.
There was no resolution to the impasse at the meeting.
As Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour ended that agenda item, others on council appeared dismayed at the gap between what the borough saw as a “very fair offer” and the church’s asking price.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.