Prestwick development delayed by easement feud

~ Property owner Earl Norman has tied up progress near the golf course with his request to give only a temporary easement.

A nearly $20 million development of high-dollar homes in western Cape Girardeau has been delayed nearly a year while developers, city officials and a prominent Cape Girardeau landowner and businessman remain mired in disagreements over 1,500 feet of sewer-line right of way.

The developers of the planned Prestwick Plantation off Bloomfield Road say they are being held up by Earl Norman, who lives near the development, because he won't dedicate right of way from his property for a sewer line that's already in place.

Norman, CEO of Benton Hill Investment Co., says he has no problem with the development -- in fact, he says he's in favor of it. But Norman said he wants to dedicate the right of way only for as long as it's needed and then wants the right of way returned to him.

Norman says he had agreed to dedicate the easement for seven years, or until a larger sewer system will be needed. Then, if the city puts in a larger system elsewhere, he wants to get his property back. City officials say they only accept permanent easements as a matter of policy.

But for Prestwick Group partner Cord Dombrowski, this dispute has become a frustrating delay.

"We just do everything we're asked to do on time and way ahead of schedule," Dombrowski said. "Here we are sitting with a fabulous project, and we can't even flush the toilets. We're stuck in some bureaucratic ping-pong machine."

The sewer lines are already in place as part of $3.7 million in infrastructure the Prestwick Group put in for the 900,000-acre development that will eventually include 735 upscale homes and townhouses on the fringe of Dalhousie Golf Club.

About 15 homes are already under construction or completed with people waiting to move in, but a certificate of occupancy cannot be issued until the city of Cape Girardeau officially accepts the infrastructure -- meaning the city would take ownership of the lines, the streets and water lines. The city won't do that, according to city engineer Jay Stencel, until the easement is granted.

Until a certificate of occupancy is issued, people can't move into the homes.

Norman said the problem started when Prestwick engineers began putting in the sewer lines before ever approaching him. He said he didn't know what was going on, but once he found out that it was for a sewer line he agreed to let them continue installing the lines, expecting an agreement could be worked out later.

Now he wants a time limit on the easement. He also wants a few conditions in writing -- such as making sure power lines are underground, meaning that unsightly light poles don't have to be erected and trees torn down. Norman also doesn't want a planned sidewalk to go onto the north side of Bloomfield. A sidewalk could impede plans to put in a hiking/biking trail, he said.

Norman admits he's using the easement as leverage.

"I don't want to give away the store," he said. "We're in agreement on 99 percent of what needs to be done. I don't think we're more than one face-to-face meeting at city hall from getting this thing done."

The power lines are already underground, and the Prestwick Group has no control over sidewalks on Bloomfield, Dombrowski said. He said Norman knows it, too, which only adds to his confusion.

"I don't know what he wants," Dombrowski said. "I don't know what his wish list is. It's silly, frankly, on Earl's part to hold a quarter of a billion project hostage that will satisfy his self interest. These things were talked about years ago."

Dombrowski said the overall retail value of the project will be about $275 million once all the houses are built and sold. One unattractive option for Prestwick is to move the sewer line miles away at an estimated cost of $60,000.

He thinks the city should be taking a more aggressive approach toward the easement. "Where is the city leadership on this?" he asked. "They ought to be working to get this done. We're sitting here dead in the water. People can't move into their homes, and we're waiting on a signature on a piece of paper and a 39-cent stamp."

Mayor Jay Knudtson said -- and Stencel agreed -- that it's unclear who should be facilitating the negotiations on the easement. The city has worked on it and both Prestwick and Norman have lawyers.

He said the city has been bending over backward to settle the issue. But he said Dombrowski must realize that a landowner's property rights have to be a factor.

"I understand that Cord Dombrowski is frustrated, but we don't have the ability to go in and run over a property owner. Mr. Norman has an investment there of his own."

Knudtson thinks the deal will be worked out..

"Cooler heads will prevail," he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137