Sunday, May 11, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH Over the past decade, it seemed that this resort city, flush with the spoils of a booming real estate market and a lucrative tourism trade, could buy just about anything it wanted.
In 2004, Orange Beach paid
$4.3 million for Robinson Island, an oblong 12cm HALF acres in Terry Cove that is populated by great blue herons. The next fall, the city shelled out $6 million for a nine-hole golf course and driving range, partly to relieve nearby residents of flooding they thought would worsen if the property were developed, partly to add discount golfing to Orange Beach's recreational offerings.
The city bought a warehouse on 2 acres, miles north of the city limits, for almost $343,000 in August. And in March, the City Council agreed to pay $380,000 for two small lots near the Community Center.
But last week, with a deal on the table to land a relatively Lilliputian parcel that would link the two lots it bought in March and enable the city to build a new office for its Parks and Recreation Department, the council balked. The asking price: $120,400.
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