11/16/07 - DMV site options down to 2 on River St.

MVE Homes property in Cortlandville under consideration in process of being sold

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The Cortlandville site among consideration for the county’s Department of Motor Vehicles office relocation project is in the process of being sold, eliminating it as a potential site.

Now, only two of the proposed locations remain. Both are within the city’s 7th Ward, one between Cleveland and River streets and one in the BOCES plaza off Port Watson and River streets.

Carol Tytler, who chairs the county’s ad hoc space needs committee, said Thursday that the goal is to narrow the potential locations down and that the elimination of the MVE Homes site on Route 13 in Cortlandville as a possibility was just another step toward that goal.

“It was definitely a site worth considering,” Tytler said this morning. “I think all three sites were excellent choices and I am confident that the two remaining sites provide good options.”

Real estate agent David Yaman said Thursday that he could not reveal any details of the company that has negotiated an agreement to purchase the roughly 8-acre MVE Homes property, owned by Melvin and Phillip Simon.

Another company had been looking to purchase a 5-acre portion of the property, leaving about 3 acres for the DMV office, at a purchase price of $300,000.

The space needs committee identified three potential locations for the new DMV office, whittling down a much larger list to just the three possibilities that were presented to the full county Legislature at the end of September.

The two sites remaining on the committee list are on River Street in Cortland.

The 2.2-acre site between River and Cleveland streets across from Hampton Inn has an asking price of $400,000 — that site has an existing Morton-type metal building that may be of use to the county.

The second site near the south end of River Street includes part of the BOCES facility parking lot. There is no price set for the site. The purchase of an additional adjacent property would be necessary to make that site viable for the county. The owner of the adjacent property said recently he would be willing to sell.

The county has held three public meetings on the proposal. Although the first two meeting did not result in any significant comment from members of the public, about 30 showed up at the East End Community Center on Oct. 30, where only a few people objected to locating the DMV in the East End.

Another meeting had been planned for Cortlandville, but Tytler said it is canceled.

The criteria for a DMV office location include the need for a 4,000-square-foot building; about 50 parking spaces; public utilities; proximity to high traffic areas without being difficult to access; enough space for a drive-thru window; lack of environmental concerns; and distance from flood zones.