Cape businesses worry about effect of land taken through eminent domain to widen street

When Walter J. Wright bought the strip mall at 1908-1910-1912 Independence St. in 1976, it was leased to Sears as warehouse space. He decided to turn the building into retail shops by tearing 18 feet off the front to provide parking.

Now Cape Girardeau's plans to widen and improve Independence Street between Pacific Street and Kingshighway threaten his ability to continue renting the shops out, Wright said.

He is one of eight Independence Street landowners whose property the city has taken through eminent domain. Five have filed exceptions to the monetary award of the commission appointed to settle the dispute, meaning their cases could go to jury trial.

Eminent domain raises the hackles of people who believe in the primacy of property rights, even those in government. Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said the county has never used eminent domain in his 13 years on the commission, and he doesn't recall his predecessor, Gene Huckstep, ever using it.

"I just don't like it," he said. "I don't like forcing somebody to give up their property." He emphasized that he was speaking for himself and not the other commissioners.

Exercising eminent domain also means incurring legal fees and paying for easements and rights of way many landowners willingly donate, Jones said. "We'd be buying all of them. There goes our money."

The county, Cape Girardeau and Jackson don't have written policies about eminent domain, but officials with all three say they avoid the procedure if possible.

"Generally the city tries very hard to negotiate with property owners," said Cape Girardeau city planner Martha Brown. She points out that 70 of the 78 property owners whose land will be affected by the Independence Street project came to agreements with the city.

Wright was unwilling to accept the city's initial offer of $5,000 for his land. The distance between his building and the street is 40 feet right now, a distance he calculates to be just sufficient for an 18-foot vehicle to back out without having to back into the busy street. After the city takes its easement the distance would be 21 feet 3 inches, Wright said.

"The money is not the issue right now," he said. "I have a business right here. If I don't have parking for these people, they're going to move to somebody else's building."

One advantage of eminent domain is preventing an individual from stopping a project that could benefit everyone. Brown said construction on the Independence Street project could begin in the next few months. Utilities are being moved right now. The project, originally estimated at $2.1 million, will widen the radius of curbs at intersections, establish a consistent 40-foot width for the street, improve storm drainage and add sidewalks.

The big advantage, said Jackson city attorney Tom Ludwig, is that eminent domain allows government to plan projects so that they are the most economical and efficient. The law provides for a balance with municipalities acquiring public land while paying fair market value for it, he said.

Ever-present issue

Cities and state and federal government are continually involved with finding that balance, he said. "If you're expanding and building public works projects there's always going to be that issue out there."

Jackson city administrator Jim Roach said acquiring easements for all the construction occurring and still to occur because of the new East Main Street interchange is bound to become contentious. The city is constructing an outer road along Old Orchard Road that will extend from the new interchange south and beyond East Jackson Boulevard. An electric line project is underway in the same area requiring rights of way.

"I'm sympathetic to the property owner's point of view," he said. "I'm an independent person. At the same time, I'm in a position with the city that if we don't have the ability to put together strips of property for roads, you can't have a community."

Ludwig is not surprised that the county government isn't using eminent domain. "Generally the county is not charged with running water lines and sewer lines, and most county roads have long since been established," he said.

A recent high-profile eminent domain case in Cape Girardeau involves the widening of Broadway, which took parking spaces away from Global Trading at 1304 Broadway and gave parking spaces to the owner of the nearby property where a Hardee's restaurant was located at the time. That property has since been sold and the building has been torn down. It will be replaced by a video store.

Global Trading owners Belen and Jerel Lichtenegger were awarded $65,000 for their 27-foot-wide easement through condemnation proceedings after the city initially offered the couple $88,000 for the entire 6,648-square-foot property and building. But they have said they may have lost their ability to do business and may appeal.

Roach is mystified by the differences that often separate an appraisal by a city and an appraisal by a property owner. "I don't understand how you can have such wildly different appraisals," he said. "they are all state-licensed. Intuition would tell you there's a systematic approach."

Jim Eakins also owns property -- the buildings housing Campus Auto Sales and Cape Glass and Tinting next door -- Cape Girardeau has condemned along Independence Street. The 10 feet of easements the city wants will change the operations by eliminating parking, he said, and the amount of money the city offered was not adequate. "They had the property appraised for less than half of what it was appraised for 10 years ago," he said.

He declined to provide the amounts the city offered. "We'll probably be going to court," he said.

While asserting his opposition to using eminent domain, Jones said he understands why governments sometimes do use it. "There are instances in the public interest where it is the right thing to do," he said. He cited Cape Girardeau's widening of Broadway as an example.

The county is involved in a project rerouting Route AB leading into the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. "I think all the landowners are going to be willing to share the right of way," he said.

'Try to get a group hug'

Another issue has been the county's plan to test a 1.3-mile section of County Road 380 between Crump and Gravel Hill for a chip-and-seal process. The road also would be widened. Last week Jones directed county highway administrator Scott Bechtold to get some action on acquiring rights of way. "We sent the road administrator out on a mission to try to get a group hug out there," Jones said. "That needs to happen. If it absolutely can't, we're not going to do eminent domain. They're going to have a 20-foot-wide gravel road."

If no hug occurs, Bechtold said, "things may not happen in '08 on that particular road."

Wright thinks he has three options once the condemnation proceedings are complete, which might not be until the fall. He can rip the front off his building at a cost far higher than the $130,000 he spent to put it on. He can tear down the house he owns next door to provide parking. Or he can tear down a building behind the strip mall to provide parking. None of those suits him, but his expectation is that the city ought to pay for whatever he has to do to keep his business viable.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137