TO: Board of County Commissioners
THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator
THROUGH: Jennifer W. Shuler, County Attorney
FROM: Christopher A. Hicks, Assistant County Attorney
DATE: October 13, 2025
SUBJECT: Sale of Property at 8811 Highway A1A to Sea Oaks Property Owners Association, Inc.
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BACKGROUND
In 1988 Indian River County purchased 2.41 acres of property from the developer of Sea Oaks that contained a wastewater treatment facility for $3.1 million. The County operated the wastewater facility until it no longer became useful as services were provided from more centralized locations. Sea Oaks currently leases space on the County’s land for maintenance and office buildings. The County entered a lease with Verizon Wireless in 2007 to use a portion of the land to construct a cell tower and associated equipment, which now includes multiple carriers. This is the only wireless tower on the northern barrier island. The current lease, if not renewed, would expire in 2032. However, Verizon and the other carriers would undoubtedly renew as this being the only tower makes the site very lucrative to them.
Because the land was no longer useful to the County for utility purposes, upon the request of Sea Oaks, through its attorney, Bruce Barkett, the BOCC declared the land surplus on June 18, 2024. The Board further directed staff to negotiate with Sea Oaks for a potential sale of the property. There are structures related to the wastewater treatment facility present on the site. Sea Oaks presented its offer in August of 2024. This offer was for the appraised value of $1.2 million and included deductions for site work to remove the existing structures, bringing the offer down to a price of $852,749. The appraisal excluded the tower as an asset and the offer included contract language that the wireless tower would be demolished after the expiration of the lease in 2032.
The ...
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