RDA land deal questioned
Medical marijuana proprietors angry over city's cheap sale of 47 acres
ADELANTO — A closed-session deal to part with 47 acres of redevelopment land in one of the city's industrial parks isn't sitting well with some medical marijuana proprietors, with one going as far as to liken the perceived cheap sale to the purchase in the 1600s of Manhattan Island from Native Americans.
City Attorney Julia Sylva announced Wednesday evening that the City Council had unanimously approved the sale of 47.04 acres of land for $375,000 to Newport Coast-based Kojima Development Company, LLC.
On Thursday, Marc O'Hara, director of the Patient Care Alliance, said the city had derived the least amount of financial benefit possible from the sale.
"It was a shocking development," said O'Hara, who called $300,000 an acre the standard price for coveted industrial park land, according to others in the industry he has spoken to.
While it wasn't specifically noted, it is believed Kojima will attempt to draw tenants interested in applying for a medical marijuana cultivation permit.
"I know we have prospective tenants that we have been in negotiation and contact with," Kojima attorney Mary Lynn K. Coffee said. "(The tenants are) qualified to obtain permits and go forward with the use as planned for the property."
O'Hara said he believed Adelanto would have accomplished more by subdividing the 47 acres, which he said would have drawn more fees and construction costs down the road to boost city coffers.
"The entity who's going to get to decide who gets these leases ... is primarily Kojima," O'Hara added, describing another so-called negative about the deal. "Nobody is going to go through the city without first going to Kojima."
The city is agreeing to finance up to $325,000 of the sale price at 5 percent interest, according to a copy of the agreement. However, the proceeds from the sale will only go to pay off redevelopment debt owed by the city after they were caught years ago borrowing from the RDA to fund attorney fees in an attempt to win control of the former George Air Force Base, officials said.
The RDA land was freed up by the state Tuesday. The city's only benefit in selling the land will be in its development, when it can then collect development fees and more.
The move angered several proprietors Wednesday, turning a cheery Christmas-themed celebration into a tit-for-tat about the sale's alleged unfairness.
Redlands attorney James De Aguilera, a former Adelanto city manager, suggested he could sue the city over the deal.
Proprietors said they believed a bid process would have occurred. But city officials chalked up their discontent Wednesday to essentially sour grapes, saying the redevelopment land and its value put forth by the city and state had been public information and Kojima just struck first.
"There's nothing exclusive here with these buyers," Sylva said. "There's nothing secret with these buyers."
Additionally, several offers to outbid Kojima's $375,000 purchase price were hurriedly put forward Wednesday, even though they were ultimately moot proposals since the Council had already voted.
City officials also announced five permit applications had been submitted thus far for medical marijuana cultivation. The Council on Wednesday agreed to a $7,000-per-application fee.
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