Scotts Valley has authorized its attorney to begin the foreclosure process on the 17½-acre parcel slated for a 143,000-square-foot Target store on La Madrona Drive.
Landowner Title Two Investment Corp. failed to pay more than $310,100 it owes in delinquent property taxes by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. The company also declined to set up a payment schedule with the city.
“I talked to (Title Two representative) Richard Johnson today — they are not in a position to enter into any payment plan at this time,” city attorney Kirsten Powell told the City Council on Wednesday, July 1.
In response, the council authorized Powell to move forward with the foreclosure process.
Powell said she would file a complaint with the court, after which Title Two has 30 days to answer or pay the taxes it owes. If at the end of 30 days the company has still failed to pay and the court allows the foreclosure, the city can issue a notice of public sale ending in a public auction of the property.
However, the foreclosure may not have a direct affect on the Target project itself.
Title Two has fully paid the $305,613 for the required environmental impact review, said Susan Westman, the city’s interim community development director. If the next property owner wants to build the same project, the same environmental study can be used.
“The EIR is for the project proposed on that site,” Westman said.
This is not the first time the La Madrona Drive property has faced foreclosure this year.
The city nearly began the foreclosure process in April, but Title Two, at that time paid, $174,400 it owed from its April 2008 property tax, which delayed the process. The company is currently delinquent on both its December 2008 and April 2009 payments.
Title Two appears to have cash-flow problems. Besides failing to pay property taxes, the firm had been late paying the city for work on the EIR for the property, causing the city to halt work on the report until payment came in.
