AUBURN – Some tweaks to the city’s policy manual should make it easier for people to find out about and purchase city lots.

Councilors approved rewriting the city’s rules for disposing of tax-acquired property, changing paragraphs written in a dense legal way to a simple step-by-step. The new policy lets the city evaluate those lots to see if they would be publicly useful – for open space, road rights of way or other public uses – if the previous owner can’t work out a deal to purchase it back.

“First we work with the previous owner to reacquire the lot, then with abutters that might be interested,” Assistant City Manager Laurie Smith said. The property can be put up for public sale at that point, either through bids, proposal requests or through a real estate broker.

“There are not really changes to the policy. We just wanted to lay things out in steps for the public,” Smith said.

The change was recommend by city councilor Mike Farrell, who didn’t attend Monday’s meeting. But his council colleagues approved the change unanimously.

Councilors also continued sorting through the current inventory of city lots, but staff recommended the city hang on to the 12 parcels they discussed Monday. Those parcels, scattered throughout the city, were oddly shaped or not buildable because of their condition. One was on a steep slope overlooking Pettengill Park while a second sits at the mouth of a marshy area south of Taylor Pond.

Smith said the city might need the lots later. Keeping the lot overlooking the park might be useful for erosion control while the marshy parcel could be used for wetlands mitigation trades elsewhere. And narrow parcels along city roads might be used to provide rights of way for future road projects.

But councilors said they wanted neighbors to have a crack at the lots first.

“Just for the sake of consistency, I think we need to check with the abutters before we move forward,” Councilor Ron Potvin said. “These lots might be useful for their properties or their uses, and it would get them back on the tax rolls.”

Smith said she would present a final plan to councilors at a future meeting and would provide current assessed values on the lots, as well.