AUBURN – The city will try to shed some of the smaller lots it owns over the next few weeks, asking abutting landowners if they are interested.

“These are mainly not buildable lots, either because of their size, their shape or their zoning,” said Laurie Smith, assistant city manager. “The people that are going to be most interested are the abutters who might want to fill out their property lines a bit.”

It’s part of a project to unload some of the land the city owns.

The city has collected a small portfolio of real estate over the years, much of it acquired when the owners stopped paying property taxes. Last spring, councilors directed staff to look at that property to figure out which pieces can be sold, which can be donated and which should be kept for city use.

A committee of nine city staffers have came up with a list of 33 parcels, ranging from an 870-square-foot parcel along Washington Street to a 1.71 acre lot off Lake Shore Drive.

“Many are small pieces, attractive only to the abutters,” Smith said. Next, Smith said the city will begin sorting bigger lots, looking for ones that should be sold on the open market and others the city should keep.

“There are lots we might want to hold on to, for drainage concerns or traffic expansions or lots that are right next to other city properties,” she said. “We’re trying to be very methodical about this and clean up the list and get it sorted before we get ahead of ourselves.”