City appeals ruling in Bloomfield Road condemnation case

The city of Cape Girardeau wants an appeals court to overturn a judge’s decision in a Bloomfield Road condemnation case that centers on whether property owners are entitled to higher compensation for “heritage value.”

The city is contesting a judge’s ruling the city must pay an additional $45,000 to the owners of the historic Elmwood property along Bloomfield Road.

City officials last month filed a notice in circuit court to take the case to the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District. The notice of appeal was sent Monday to the appellate court.

In court records, the city argues Elmwood Farms can continue to make hay on land that borders the improved street and is not entitled to heritage value.

City manager Scott Meyer said Tuesday the City Council authorized the appeal. Meyer said there are no previous cases in Missouri that address the heritage-value issue.

Judge Rob Fulton ruled in October the city must pay the heritage value in addition to the $90,000 the city previously agreed to pay to settle the land condemnation.

Under state law, a court must approve a 50 percent increase in the condemnation payment if it is found the land had heritage value.

Both sides agreed the Spanish-land-grant property was settled by a Cape Girardeau pioneer family and has been in the same family for more than 200 years.

But the city contended the taking of land for reconstruction and widening of Bloomfield Road and the addition of a recreation trail did not prevent property owners Patrick and Cheryl Evans from using the property in “substantially the same manner” as before the July 2016 taking of the land.

Mary Boner, an attorney for the city, argued in an earlier court document the owners of Elmwood Farms had used the property to make hay.

Commissioners in the condemnation case had concluded the city should pay $55,000 to the property owners, a decision upheld in a July 2016 ruling by Judge Benjamin Lewis.

In his nine-page ruling, Lewis said the owners were not entitled to heritage value because the historic house on the land “will not be disturbed or diminished by the road improvement or the walking trail.”

But in the subsequent settlement, both sides agreed to let a court decide the issue of heritage value.

In deciding that issue, Fulton said he would not consider Lewis’ ruling on the issue.

In the notice of appeal, Boner, the city’s attorney, identified three issues the city may raise. One centers on the legality of a second hearing about heritage value “when the judge presiding over the condemnation proceeding ruled no heritage value was warranted,” she wrote.

The other issues deal with use of property under state law as well as whether “existence of consequential damages” justifies the awarding of heritage value.

Boner argued in a previous court filing consequential damages, such as “loss of privacy and security, change in the road’s grade, slope and visibility, and unsightliness,” were accounted for in the $90,000 payment.

Boner wrote the Elmwood home is “completely out of sight of the road.” She said “the unique architecture of its exterior, the ornate woodwork and stained glass of its interior, its artwork, books and antiquities will not be disturbed or diminished by the road improvement or the walking trail.”

But Evans and his attorney James F. Waltz have argued the road and trail project affects the ability to market Elmwood for its historic value, justifying the added compensation.

Waltz said the city was given an option in the earlier settlement agreement to pay an additional $22,500 to settle all the claims but chose to let a judge decide the heritage-value issue.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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