The city-owned property at First and Main streets in Los Altos is scheduled to go on the market this May, a decade after city leaders purchased it with the goal of adding more parking downtown.

The Los Altos City Council announced its intent to sell the .78-acre piece of “surplus” land Tuesday night.

A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m, May 10, in the council chambers at 1 N. San Antonio Road. The council will consider public protests and objections to the sale at that time.

The council last August zoned the property as a hotel-use site only.

City officials have been working over the past three years on a deal with Palo Alto developer Roxy Rapp of Apricot Inn Associates to build a boutique hotel at the site following an extensive selection process that included a movie theater as an option.

Rapp had initially offered to purchase the property for $3 million in 2001. The city did not release the amount for which the property has been appraised.

The city had considered leasing the land to Rapp.

Rapp told the city he would not move forward on the project unless the city sold him the land.

Negotiations have been ongoing since 2001. Property title appears to be the holdup in the deal.