County commissioners to consider gifting 4-acre lot to new business

Douglas County commissioners may gift an empty lot in the East Hills Business Park to a new business venture by the adjacent building materials company, Prosoco.

Commissioners will consider the gift during their weekly meeting Wednesday, Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug said. The county has donated plots of land in the past to encourage businesses to build in the area, he said.

The empty lot holds less than 4 acres of land and sits between Prosoco and Kinedyne, another manufacturing business to the south, Weinaug said. Because of the lot’s pie-piece shape and difficult terrain, it has never been developed.

Because Kinedyne is currently moving its operations from Lawrence to Alabama, Prosoco plans to take over the building, but would need to utilize the open lot in between to make the operation feasible, Weinaug said.

“To make it work they need the open lot in between to build the appropriate loading docks and access to the loading docks,” Weinaug said.

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Bruce Boyer, co-owner of Prosoco, said the company’s new business, Build Smart, will manufacture energy-efficient panels for single- and multi-family structures.

As a part of the consideration, Lawrence city commissioners waived more than $40,000 in special assessments for the open lot during their weekly meeting Tuesday night. The motion was contingent upon the county donating the plot of land to Prosoco after the fact.

Although the county owns the property, the assessments were owed to the city for the use of street lights and utilities in the business park.

If commissioners gift the lot to Build Smart, Boyer said he hopes for the company to be in the new building by the end of the year and producing by the first quarter of 2016.

The County Commission meets at 4 p.m. each Wednesday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meetings are open to the public.

Also on this week’s agenda:

• Commissioners will consider soliciting consulting services for a review of building and codes inspection services.

• Commissioners will consider initiating text amendments adding accessory dwelling units as a permitted use and establishing standards for the use for the Zoning Regulations for the Unincorporated Territory of Douglas County, Kansas, and the Subdivision Regulations for Lawrence and the Unincorporated Areas of Douglas County, KS.