Milton council to debate large land purchase

February 28, 2025 5

Milton Town Council is set to discuss acquiring six parcels in downtown that could be potentially used as the site of a new police station and town meeting space.

At its Monday, March 3 meeting, council will discuss purchasing lots at 117 and 119 Broad St.; 111, 113 and 115 Magnolia St.; and 203 Mulberry St. Together, the lots are about 2 acres. The lot at 113 Magnolia St. was the home of former Councilwoman Leah Betts, who died in January 2024.

Mayor John Collier said the town has signed a conditional sales agreement that allows for a 60-day due diligence period. He said that due diligence will include looking at whether the parcels combined together could be used for some kind of municipal purpose. Collier said that could include a new police station and perhaps a multistory building that could be used as a community and meeting space.

“This opportunity doesn’t come along too often,” he said.

Collier said the price will be discussed by council March 3, and did not want to say what the cost would be until it was before the full council. However, he also added that at this point, there’s no contract and nothing’s been spent at this time. The town needed to enter into a conditional agreement so it could see if the concept could work, Collier said.

A listing on Jack Lingo Realtor’s website said the package of six properties is offered for $1.65 million.

All the parcels are in the TC-Town Center zoning district, a designation that comprises the historic downtown area and includes a wide variety of potential commercial and residential uses.

According to the town code, the intent of the TC district is to delineate the town center area, which is historic and pedestrian in scale, and is predominantly utilized and appropriate for a more intensive and traditional mixture of interactive retail, cultural, conference and meeting, lodging, business and personal service, financial, institutional, office, residential and governmental uses. Government buildings are one of the permitted uses within the district.