At a meeting on Jan. 18, the Clinton Town Council unanimously voted to approve the sale of an undeveloped plot of town-owned land on Killingworth Turnpike for $7,500.

In August 2022, Town Manager Karl Kilduff announced that an interested party had contacted the town about potentially purchasing the land at 36 R Killingworth Turnpike.

The 0.41-acre property is a landlocked plot located just past the driveway to Chow Restaurant.

At the Jan. 18 meeting, the Council went into a brief executive session partly to discuss a potential real estate matter. When the Council came out of the session, a motion was made and passed unanimously to sell the property for $7,500.

“As a land-locked parcel, it was only offered for sale to the abutting property owners. One abutter came forward with a proposal to purchase the property. The buyer is Christie Crescenzi,” Kilduff said.

Kilduff told the Harbor News the sale would need to be approved at a special town meeting, which has yet to be scheduled at press time.

Earlier this year, Kilduff said that the town has had possession of the property for close to 30 years and that selling the property could get the land back on the tax rolls.

“The Town took the property as part of a tax sale during the early 1990s for unpaid real estate taxes. The unpaid taxes, penalty, and interest at the time was $25,184. After the foreclosure by tax sale, it went off the tax rolls. There appears to be abutter interest in the property, which is an opportunity to put the property back on the tax rolls,” Kilduff said at that time.

The issue was last briefly discussed at a Sept. 12, 2022, Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) Meeting. According to Kilduff, state statute requires land to be sold to be first referred to the local PZC for a report. The PZC unanimously voted at that meeting that the potential sale of the property would be harmonious with the town’s plan of conservation and development.