The City of Sanford recently donated property to the Central Florida Urban League (CFUL), an organization whose goal is to achieve social and economic equality through education, employment and entrepreneurship.
While the CFUL has been in business helping individuals in Central Florida for more than 40 years, the land donated by the City in January will be home to the organization’s first office in Seminole County and the organization’s headquarters.
“It has always been the dream of CFUL to work with Seminole County. CFUL always tried to work with Seminole County, but without an office it was a difficult task” said Enid Munfus, Interim President and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League. “When the opportunity came to receive donated land from the City, we were excited about the opportunity.”
Property donated to the Central Florida Urban League included seven parcels of land given to the Cityin 2000 by Ira Vinson Henderson’s estate – on the condition the land would be used for parks, and recreation areas, or could be donated to non-profit organizations.
The vacant land is on South Cedar Avenue by Historic Goldsboro Boulevard across from the Sanford Police Department.
The Central Florida Urban League said in a press release the land, “will allow us to lift up countless individuals in the City of Sanford and reach so many more throughout Seminole County. From this new office, we will help our youth stay on the right path and work with adults to upskill and reskill themselves, safeguarding their future as well.”
Munfus said that having an office in Seminole County will ensure that individuals will have a place to take classes and ensure that staff have a shorter commute for events at community centers, churches and others.
Official records show that the City determined the “property was no longer needed or required” for public use. The decision to give land to the Central Florida Urban League was made by the City Commission after the organization proposed building its headquarters in the city.
In a letter to Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte, Jr., sent on July 2022, the Central Florida Urban League offered the following services to Sanford residents at no cost: job training and career planning programming, financial education programming, small business and entrepreneurship support, community garden with fresh produce, bridging gap between law enforcement & community programming, community health and wellness clinic, youth enrichment and learning centers.
Services were valued at having an economic impact of $25 million over five years.
“We are going to make every effort to customize programs to ensure the community can benefit the most from training programs,” said Munfus. “With the support of partners all programs are offered at no cost. As long as we have funding, we will try to continue to offer the programs. All previous programs that occurred in Orlando have been free of charges.”
There are speculations that prior to being owned by Ira Henderson, the property was used as a dump for hazardous waste materials such as gasoline or chemical waste.
The land was previously owned by the American Agricultural Chemical Company, a manufacturer of superphosphate fertilizers that later became a successor to Bowker Chemical, a lead arsenate manufacturer. The company owned a fertilizer warehouse on the land, according to a city directory.
Later, the land was owned by Mebane Gas Station.
In the land donation agreement,the City negated any representation about the physical aspect of the donated land – including its quality or physical condition and the compliance, “with any environmental protection, pollution or land use laws, rules, regulations, orders or requirements, including the existence in or on the property of hazardous materials.”
Along with relinquishing the mineral rights to the land, the City also cancelled any liens they had on the property.
“CFUL assumes the risk that adverse past, present or future physical characteristics and conditions of the property may have not been revealed by City’s disclosures or CFUL’s inspections,” read part of the land donation agreement.
Speaking to any potential issues, Bonaparte said, “The City was not aware of any possible site contamination or otherwise at the time of donation or as of present.”
The Central Florida Urban League is now responsiblefor conducting a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment of the land – which includes a test to identify “the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances or petroleum products.”
“We are committed to making sure our new headquarters is a welcoming environment for the community and we will follow all regulations that are required to make sure the area is safe for public use,” said the Central Florida Urban League.
Article: https://www.mysanfordherald.com/article/city-sanford-donates-land-central-florida-urban-league
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