AUBURN – Habitat for Humanity organizers say they’ll wait until December before they decide the fate of a planned spring project on Hampshire Street.

Councilors on Monday tabled a sale for the 133 Hampshire St. property to the housing charity when a neighbor said she wanted to purchase it.

Mike Carey, a member of the local Habitat for Humanity board of directors, said the fate of the project is up to city councilors.

“At this point, all we can do is wait and see what the council decides,” Carey said. “We plan to build a couple of projects in Maine at this point, and we really hope this will work out and be one of them.”

The charity had asked to purchase the .11 acre lot at 133 Hampshire St. from the city for $3,000. The city purchased the land for $1 in 2002 after a fire destroyed the building. The land owner could not afford to demolish the property and let the city take it over and demolish it. Its current assessed property value is $20,100.

The group hopes to begin work on a single-family home there next spring. The end result will be property worth $120,000 paying property taxes – about $2,000 in taxes per year, according to city estimates.

“The properties we build are regularly valued at $150,000 to $170,000,” Carey said. “And we do a very thorough vetting of the families we help and make sure they are capable keeping the property up and of paying their taxes. It’s part of the entire deal.”

But neighbor Joanne Luizzo, of 131 Hampshire St., told councilors that her family uses the lot as an open space, and her family rakes the leaves there and maintains it. Her children have even built a tree house on the lot.

“I don’t want to lose that space,” she told councilors Monday. “I think it’s important keep a safe place for my children and for children in the neighborhood to play.”

Luizzo said she could not afford to pay the full assessed value, but could afford to match Habitat for Humanity’s $3,000. She was not given a chance to bid on the property, and councilors agreed that was unfair. They agreed to table the matter for 30 days.

City Manager Glenn Aho said the lot was one of many called out for possible sale, but was never put up for bid. He would expect the land would bring in a much higher price if the city did so.

“But the only reason we’re doing this is because it’s a charity, a gift to the community,” said Councilor Ray Berube. “The only reason we’re doing this is to help their cause, and to help the community.”