By Sara Beth Williams–
The Veterans Community Center has negotiated the purchase of an adjacent vacant lot from a property owner who had originally proposed subdividing the lot in order to build new duplexes on the land.
Veterans Community Center President Michelle Grant said Wednesday that after several months of working together with the owner of the lot next door, the center is planning to close on the property next week and will then officially own the land.
“It’s been quite a process but here we are, and we are very excited,” Grant said.
The Veterans Community Center in June announced that they were seeking donations through fundraising efforts in order to help secure the purchase of the lot next door after the owner put plans to subdivide and develop on hold and began working with the center.
Grant said the amount in donations isn’t yet available, but added that fundraising over the last month and a half “absolutely was paramount in obtaining the property.”
During a Planning Commission meeting earlier this year in which the subdivision of the lot adjacent to the Veterans Community Center on Sylvan Road was being discussed, Grant and other veterans, spoke out against the development of duplexes on the lot.
The vacant lot is currently used for overflow parking for Community Center events such as spaghetti dinners and barbeques, Grant said, adding that most of the guests who attend events are veterans who are elderly and some are disabled.
Parking elsewhere farther away from the Center and having to walk long distances would be very difficult for many guests, Grant said.
In an interview following the Planning Commission meeting where Commissioners asked to continue the item, Grant told The Sentinel that she submitted a petition and a statement to the land owner that prompted a hold on proposed subdivision and development plans.
Grant explained that the property was purchased by a new owner in 2024, and that the previous owner had accommodated the Veterans Community Center and allowed them to rent the land in order to use for overflow parking.
One day a for sale sign appeared on the property. Grant later discovered that the property was listed for sale online as a scam and the original owner didn’t know it was for sale. According to a local news outlet who investigated the scam, the real estate agent was also unaware of the situation.
After previously communicating with a fictitious seller who claimed to own the vacant property, and not being able to meet him face to face for months, the real estate agent visited the property owner’s home, only to discover that the seller and the property owner were not one in the same.
Despite the situation involving the fictitious seller, the original owner chose to go through with the sale of the property anyway, Grant said.
But the new owner had no idea that the Veterans Community Center was using the vacant lot at the time for parking.
“He’s been a wonderful person,” Grant said of the new buyer, who called her the next day after she sent a petition letter. “He had no idea how much we do at the center, how important the need is for us to continue to do what we do, and grow, with the lot meeting our parking needs.”
Funding for the purchase of the lot has come from a combination of places, including emergency funds and fundraising, Grant said, adding that the center has financed the difference.
The center is still raising money and will continue to put all donations toward the purchase to pay off the debt “just as quickly as we can raise the funds.” Grant said the donations received so far helped the vet center acquire enough for a down payment on the property.
For now, the vacant lot will continue to be used for parking as is, with future paving of the lot dependent on the feasibility of funding for paving. The Veterans Community Center is expected to close escrow on the lot on Monday.
