Port Orange, FL Using Eminent Domain for Road Project
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PORT ORANGE — Delays in completing a land swap have prompted the city to declare eminent domain against a developer to force the sale of a property needed for a road-widening project.
City Manager Ken Parker said the action against Sun Glow Construction is the first time in his 23-year tenure the city has declared eminent domain.
“This is brand-new ground for us,” Parker said, describing the impending court battle.
Through eminent domain, the government can compel a landowner to sell property at a fair-market price to serve a public purpose, such as a drainage pond, road or utility right of way. If the two sides disagree on the price, the court decides what is reasonable.
“I’d say we’re very disappointed,” said Harold Hubka, an attorney representing Sun Glow. “The history goes back three years. It’s ridiculous to not be able to work out something in three years.”
The land swap calls for Sun Glow to relinquish five acres near Taylor Road so Volusia County can build a drainage pond it needs to four-lane a mile-long stretch of Williamson Boulevard.
The pond would catch runoff from both Williamson Boulevard and a retail plaza that Sun Glow wants to build off Taylor Road.
In return, Sun Glow would get five acres at a shopping center a couple of miles away on Yorktowne Boulevard, plus $150,000.
Hubka said his client wouldn’t agree to the swap because of drainage issues the city refused to address at the Yorktowne Boulevard site.
A construction easement has allowed the county to begin building the retention pond near Williamson, even though Sun Glow still controls the land.
Sun Glow agreed to have an early plan for the shopping plaza through the review process by Aug. 1. If that deadline was missed, the city would have 60 days to file eminent domain or lose the construction easement.
The city’s hand was essentially forced, Parker said.
Declaring eminent domain assures the pond will be built and the road widened on schedule, said Gerald Brinton, the county roads engineer.
“It doesn’t slow us down; it doesn’t impact us one iota,” Brinton said.
Although this is the city’s first time condemning land in this way, the county files dozens of eminent domain cases yearly for road projects, including in Port Orange, Brinton said.
In all cases, the government must reimburse the seller for the cost of appraising the land, which can run as high as $10,000, Brinton said.
On the main points, Sun Glow and the city were in agreement, Parker said, but they hit snags on the technical points.
“Conceptually, we were close,” Parker said. “I think it was in the details that we weren’t.”