October 10, 2024 |
Photo – Map of discussed parcel of land – Bigfoot99 file photo
Rawlins officials must negotiate with the federal government if they want to purchase a section of Bureau of Land Management-owned property.
In August, the Bureau of Land Management filed a zone change request with the City of Rawlins. The federal agency asked to change the zoning of several plots of land on the south side of the city from residential to commercial. The change allows BLM to construct a new fire station and barracks on the property.
The city itself requested a similar zone change for a 19-acre parcel of land in the same area of Donnell Street. The Rawlins Planning Commission approved the BLM request. However, enough residents opposed the city’s zone change request that the governing body had to step in.
However, the city does not own the 19-acre plot of land on Donnell Street. During the September 17th Rawlins city council meeting, City Attorney Pinita Maberry-Nave explained that a patent filed in 1967 shows that the BLM sold the land to the city of Rawlins for $50, with the condition that a new streets department shop be built.
City Attorney Maberry-Nave said the patent states that the land must be used for a streets department and nothing else. Any other use requires prior approval from the United States Department of the Interior.
City officials have shown an ignorance about the contract with the BLM. For more than half a century, numerous other uses for the land were proposed, such as constructing a sports complex or office space. In 2005, a visitor’s center was suggested, Attorney Maberry-Nave said construction was never started on any of the suggested projects and the BLM was silent.
The 1967 patent remains in effect. The city must receive authorization from the Secretary of the Interior to use the property for anything other than the originally agreed upon streets department shop. If the city violates the agreement, BLM is within its right to take the 19-acre parcel back.
Attorney Maberry-Nave was asked to find out what the city would need to do in order to buy the property from the federal government.
At the October 1st Rawlins city council meeting, Attorney Maberry-Nave explained that to purchase the land outright, the city must petition the BLM, justify its need for the property, and pay an appraised value.
For the time being, the Rawlins city council has chosen to drop its zone change request and abide by the spirit of the original agreement. The property is set to be used as a streets department staging yard.
