City council member accused of blocking new housing by demanding $7m for small strip of land

Add as a preferred source on GoogleCouncil man that is accused of blocking new housing. Photo: Supplied. Developers in Buckeye, AZ, are eyeing a plan to build hundreds of affordable housing units in the city, but they say there’s just one problem: longtime local Councilman Tony Youngker. Youngker’s family homestead is sitting on a plot of land smack in the middle of the proposed 375-unit project, and its developer, Dominium, says Youngker is asking an outrageous sum for the property: $US5m ($7m). Mark Lambing, vice president and project partner at Dominium, told the local NBC affiliate, KPNX-TV, that Dominium needs about 30 feet (90 metres) of Youngker’s land to create a right-of-way into the development. “The city has a right to that land per a development agreement for free, but they’ve refused to exercise that right,” he said. Rather than negotiate a deal for the small sliver of land, Youngker has allegedly demanded the developer purchase his entire property for the $US5 million ($7m) sum. Youngker’s homestead, which sits on 2.25 acres, has a Realtor.com® estimated value of $US587,524 ($831,745) — though Dominium appraised the property at around $650,000 — about 13% of Youngker’...