Six Buildings Set to Fall to Route 281 Expansion Project

By Christine Laubenstein
Staff Reporter
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CORTLANDVILLE - The state will demolish six buildings in the upcoming expansion of Route 281 and take some portion of land from 90 percent of properties along a 3-mile stretch of the road.

Property owners have been contacted about the state's intentions, said Gene Cilento, design project manager for the state Department of Transportation. Utility relocations are scheduled to begin next summer while road construction is scheduled to take place in 2009 and 2010.

The project stretches along a short section of Route 13 north of Lime Hollow and stretches along Route 281 to Exit 12 in Homer.

Six buildings on five properties will be taken through eminent domain and demolished, Cilento said Monday.

They are:
* Mobile and Red Apple gas stations at the intersection of Route 281 and McLean Road;
* the recently closed Golden Lunch Restaurant at 3590 Route 281;
* a single-family rental property in front of Cortland Used Cars at 3600 Route 281; and
* a multi-family rental property and a 16-room home that also serves as TLT Inc., an accounting business, both at the intersection of Route 281 and McLean Road.
Only some of these property owners have received offers on their property, Cilento said.

Steve Malchak, who owns the single-family rental property in front of his used car lot, said the state has offered him $104,000 for the 1,500-square-foot house and about 27 feet of his blacktop car lot.

Malchak said the offer is too low, citing a recent appraisal by Dryden Mutual Insurance Co. that valued the house at $155,000.

He said he would file a lawsuit if he cannot negotiate a better offer.

Malchak plans to attend a public talk Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the former Holiday Inn on River Street at which Dan Biersdorf, a Buffalo-based lawyer with the Minneapolis-based Biersdorf & Associates specializing in eminent domain, will speak.

Biersdorf will be speaking from a property owner's perspective. He will address frequently asked questions, give an overview of the eminent domain process and then open the floor to any questions.

Tammy Thomas, owner of the two properties at the intersection of Route 281 and McLean Road that will be taken by the state, said she has already talked to Biersdorf about representing her should she dispute the state's offer, which she has not yet received.

She suspects it will be too low because the state has already told her it is not considering the accounting business inside her home.
Other property owners less affected say they plan on suing the state for their offers.

Paul Gallow, owner of Pro Audio at 3904 Route 281, said he is not happy with the state's offer for taking about a third of an acre of his parking lot.
Gallow declined to say how much the state offered him or what he would have liked. He said the state will take the majority of his parking spots, though he declined to say exactly how many.

He did say, however, the seizure could result in him closing his business.
"I'll probably end up moving," he said. "I'm guessing I can't continue to do business with that few parking spots."

Most businesses along Route 281 affected by eminent domain will not see such significant changes to their property.

Route 281 Bowl Inc., for example, will lose 10 of its 50 parking spots, owner Scott Becker said, while William Cleary said he will lose land going back 35 feet from Route 281 of the 1.6 acres parcel he owns. The property, which is across from Luker Road, is vacant.

Both men say they have not yet received offers from the state.

Cilento said the state hopes to provide offers to all affected properties within the next few weeks, and close on all the properties by the end of this year.