Citrus Heights, CA (MPG) - The future for the roughly 13-acre parcel of open land left vacant with the February 2017 demolition of the former Sylvan Elementary School remains uncertain, but that isn’t because no one is interested in it.

In fact, the city of Citrus Heights is hoping to purchase the parcel for what would presumably be a development project of some type, although city officials are not saying what they would like to see happen there, only that they hope to own it and are in discussions with the San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) to buy it.

Mayor Jeff Slowey recently announced during a meeting of the Auburn Boulevard Business Association, which is spearheading Auburn Boulevard revitalization efforts, that the city is vigorously working with the district as it makes a decision on what to do, if anything, with the site.

“There is nothing new from our end to say,” said Mayor Slowey.  “We would like to control what happens there and will continue to work with the San Juan Unified School District to that end, following their process to declare this site ‘excess property.’

Ownership of the parcel, located at 7085 Auburn Boulevard at the intersection with Old Auburn Road, would provide roughly 60,000 square feet of building space to a new owner.  Adding the parcel to its real estate portfolio would give the city a gem of an opportunity for crowning the ongoing redevelopment work that began under Phase I of the city’s Auburn Complete Streets Revitalization Project completed in 2014.  

As part of a sweeping plan to revitalize Auburn Boulevard from Sylvan corners to Interstate 80, Phase 1 involved moving utility cables underground, shoring up frontage easements, planting of some 230 new trees, 10,000 feet of new bike lanes and sidewalks for the stretch of the boulevard from Sylvan Corners to Rusch Park.  Phase II would continue the same improvements up to the I-80, but that portion remains unfunded and the city must first begin right-of-way purchases from building owners before work can begin, expected to commence in early 2018.

According district officials, the land is now considered surplus property, deemed so in spring by an ad hoc 3280 Surplus Property committee.  The committee held three public meetings between April and May and deemed the property as an excess parcel, making it available for sale. It was demolished in February.

In the meantime, the coveted site is being eyed by many entities, the city included, according to Keith Reid, communications specialist for the SJUSD.

“We have had several parties express interest in the property,” said Reid. “But at this time we are still not there yet.”

The former elementary school was deemed to be unsafe and in violation of ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) code, said Reid.  The new Sylvan Elementary school sits on the former site of Citrus Heights Elementary School, which was folded into Carriage Elementary.

Under strict guidelines for school property, the district is unable to simply install a “for sale” sign and offer it to the highest bidder. Instead, a special committee had to be formed to, first, officially deem the property as “surplus” or “excess property.”  The next step is to decide who to sell it too, which may not come for some time.

“The property at Sylvan was deemed unacceptable and we demolished it,” said Reid.  “As for next steps, there are a few and we can potentially sell it to the city or someone else, but there are other hoops to jump through now and they have to do that before a buyer can take the property.  The city is extremely interested, but we are not at a point where we are ready to sell and we will be having discussions about selling, but it’s not going to be any time real soon.”