Richard Smith
Independent Newsmedia

During the Feb. 21 City Council meeting, Surprise purchased 5.84 acres of property in the Original Town Site with a street address of 15627 N. Nash St.

The site is better known as the Donorma RV Park and was bought by its (now-previous) owner in 2013. The council unanimously approved reallocating $1.35 million in grant funding to general capital projects for the purchase.

In accompanying materials, city officials stated the RV park is at 31 percent occupancy, though that fluctuates with the season. Documents also mentioned the Surprise Heritage District and the call for strategic investments in the OTS.

Surprise owns most of the property surrounding the site and identified Donorma as a property to acquire for future city services.

Former councilwoman Rachel Villanueva spoke in favor of the purchase.

“Please remember how hard we worked for a whole year on the overlay. This is a real issue that we have been talking about — what’s next? I’m really hoping you would consider buying this property so we can move forward,” Ms. Villanueva said.