Rep. Kathy Swan seeks to revise condemnation law in wake of her court battle with city of Cape Girardeau

State Rep. Kathy Swan wants to revise Missouri�s condemnation law to better protect property owners in the wake of her legal battle with the city of Cape Girardeau.

Swan and her husband, Reg, fought the city in court, accusing the local government of taking their land unfairly by offering well below the appraised value for a little more than 3 acres of woods behind their home.

The Swans settled the case in June with the city agreeing to pay $112,500, well above the initial $58,375 offer.

Swan has introduced legislation that would require cities and other condemning entities, at the time of the offer, to provide a property owner �with a clear, concise and understandable disclosure statement� describing the effects of the project on the property being taken.

The goal, she said, is to provide �full transparency� to property owners.

Her legislation would require cities and other entities to disclose everything from the projected loss or damage to trees and other landscape features to changes to the grade of the site and location of ingress and egress.

The bill also would require the condemning entities to detail any planned changes to existing utility services, loss or damage to growing crops and the anticipated length of use of any temporary easements.

Any offer to a property owner that does not comply with such provisions would be considered nonconforming. If a judge finds that to be the case, the city government or other condemning entity such as a utility company would be barred from restarting the condemnation process on that property for two years, according to the measure.

Swan said her bill would put more power in the hands of property owners, allowing them to know exactly what effect a project will have on their properties.

She said her bill address what she calls �a wide spread problem.�

Swan said she and her husband initially were not told by city officials all the details for the Veterans Memorial Drive construction project and how it would affect their land.

But city manager Scott Meyer said Tuesday the city has acted in good faith in acquiring property for public works projects. The goal, he said, is to �look for ways to save taxpayer money and get along with the landowner.�

Meyer defended the city�s actions regarding the taking of property from the Swans.

�We certainly felt we were transparent,� he said, adding the municipal government �followed the law.�

He said he has yet to review the legislation. But he said it could prevent cities and other entities from having the planning flexibility to make design changes on a project.

It also could delay construction, adding to the cost of a project, Meyer said.

But James F. Waltz, a local attorney who represented the Swans, said the city did not advise his clients up front the land taken for a temporary easement would be regraded and a large amount of dirt would be removed from the property and used �to build up the road bed.�

He added, �It was a gross misrepresentation of what they were going to get back.�

St. Louis-area lawyer Paul Henry, who specializes in representing property owners in condemnation cases, helped draft the bill.

Henry said the legislation is designed to provide property owners with more information up front.

�How can anyone argue with that?� he asked.

�It won�t cost condemning agencies a dime� if they are dealing honestly with property owners, Henry said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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