The Property Acquisition Division is responsible for obtaining real property the County needs to carry out its services to the citizens of Manatee County. We work closely with other County departments on their projects that require the acquisition of land. The type of project will depend on the type of acquisition we make. For a road project, we will acquire the land needed for right of way in fee simple via a deed. For a Utility Project, we will obtain easements for water lines or sewer lines. If a Department needs to lease a location to provide services to the community, we identify potential locations and negotiate the lease with the landlord for the desired location. If a developer constructs a roadway that is to be turned over to the County, we acquire the roadway through the dedication process. As part of the acquisition process, we review all appraisal and title reports, negotiate purchase and sale contracts and leases, and present agreed upon documents to the Board of County Commissioners for acceptance and execution.
We are tasked with reviewing County owned property to determine its continued or future use. If a piece of property no longer serves a current or future use, we take the property through a process to have it declared “surplus” by the Board of County Commissioners. Once a property is declared “surplus,” it can be sold. We market, advertise and sell property declared surplus in accordance with the Florida Statutes and local ordinances.
The Florida Statutes sets forth a procedure by which a County can terminate or vacate its interest in land which was obtained by via plat, dedication or easement. We process requests by citizens to vacate the County’s interest in old plats, right of ways and easements in accordance with the Florida Statutes. We hold pre-applications meetings with citizens to discuss their desire to vacate certain County interest, we review the request to vacate application and its attachments to ensure it is complete and we oversee the request to vacate process from start to finish, including making presentations to the Board of County Commissioners and obtaining the resolution that effectively vacates the County’s interest.