The city has owned and leased out a parcel of land in West Newton that encompasses several parking spaces since 1984.

On Monday night, the City Council voted to give the mayor authority to sell it, but not before a lot of debate.

Part of the land, located at 25 Chestnut St., has been under city ownership since 1984, and the city has leased it to the owner of 1 Chestnut St. That used to be Bank of America.

“The lease provided 14 spaces, six of which are on wholly owned city land, eight spaces are located 69 percent on city land, and 31 percent on private property,” Councilor Vicki Danberg, chair of the Real Property Reuse Committee, said.

The initial 20-year lease was extended for 10 years in 2004 and another 10 years in 2014. The lease ended last September.

The Police Department will retain the use of the six spaces on city land, Danberg said, and would make the other eight spaces available for sale or lease.

Meanwhile, 1 Chestnut St. is currently under sale agreement, with Hilliards Chocolates set to open up shop there.

“The public has reacted very enthusiastically to the prospect of Hilliards opening in this location,” Danberg said. “Hilliards needs to be able to execute an agreement for these spaces in time for them to be able to open in the fall so that they can be in business for the holiday season.”

The purchase-and-sale agreement, in fact, is contingent on those eight parking spaces being included.

The land with the city-owned spaces was assessed at $276,000, which Hilliards has agreed to pay.

Several councilors suggested the city keep the land and lease it, and Councilor Tarik Lucas offered an amendment to change “sale” to “lease.” The average rent for one space in that location is $375 a month, $36,000 for eight spaces.

Lucas asked for a 50-year lease, and that was amended to a 99-year lease later in the discussion.

“The city, if we lease it, still maintains some control over the site,” Lucas said. “If we were to sell the eight parking spaces, there is nothing stopping Hilliards Chocolates—and I hope they don’t do it—there is nothing stopping them from selling that particular land, including the eight parking spaces, to a third party.”

If Hilliards doesn’t last long on that site, Lucas added, the city would still control the parking spaces.

Councilor John Oliver concurred.

“We should not be selling city land to anyone if we can help it,” Oliver said.

Councilor Rick Lipof said he initially thought the city should keep the land because the police use some of the spaces but, after looking at the situation as a real estate appraisal professional, changed his mind.

“They really need those spaces,” Lipof said. “They’re not public spaces. They’re spaces that, because they’re on their land and they would buy that, they would control them.”

The debate evolved in to a discussion on Newton’s small business community.

“We want West Newton to be successful,” Lipof said. “We want those businesses to thrive.”

Councilor Andrea Kelley called the existing layout and ownership lease a “complicated, messy situation.”

“Part of why I like the cleanliness and simplicity of a sale is also it gives incentive to this potential owner, Hilliards, to invest in this property,” Kelley said. “They’re there for the long haul. They want to be able to fix up this property, and the lease is more tenuous for them. If it’s a sale, they will be able to do what they want to do. They’ve got some conversion possibilities for the basement and for some of the spaces inside.”

Councilor Julia Malakie, in favor of a lease, noted that the complex makeup of ownership of the spaces hasn’t been a big problem in the four decades since the lease was established.

“It’s weird, yeah, but we lived with it for 40 years and nobody really noticed,” Malakie said.

To address concerns about a possible land resale, Councilor Susan Albright added a request that the mayor give the city right of first refusal to buy the spaces if the property owner sells them.

The Council rejected the amendment to lease (7 in favor, 17 against) and then voted in favor of a sale with Albright’s recommendation for right of first refusal, with 23 in favor and Oliver against.