City of Arnold, Missouri Takes Eminent Domain Case to State Supreme Court
Dentist in path of shopping center says he’s not budging
http://jeffcountyjournal.stltoday.com/news/sj2tn20071023-1024jef_dentst.ii1.txt
When a Jefferson County judge allowed dentist Homer Tourkakis to keep his practice in Arnold, he became a small town hero to those who oppose the use of eminent domain in the city.
However, the city is not yet ready to back down.
The City of Arnold filed an appellant brief with the Missouri Supreme Court last week to begin the appeals proceedings in the city’s condemnation case against the dentist. City Attorney Bob Sweeney said Tourkakis’ team has 30 days to file its own brief.
Both parties expect to come out on top.
“I’m confident that the Circuit Court in Jefferson County spent an adequate amount of time to make the right decision,” Tourkakis said.
In May, Judge M. Edward Williams of the Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled against Arnold in the case. In his ruling, Williams said a third-class city such as Arnold does not have the constitutional authority to take private property, even if it is blighted.
Tourkakis was among the last holdouts among property owners in the path of the Arnold Commons shopping center project and now plans to keep his practice at 1506 Big Bill Road where it has remained for 22 years.
Because of the location of Tourkakis’ property, the case proceedings have not delayed progress of the Arnold Commons Development thus far, but Sweeney said that waiting on a ruling could hold up completion of the project. As of now, construction continues to press on, and the project is still on schedule.
According to Tourkakis, his dental patients and the city’s general population have continued to support him.
“They don’t feel that private property should be transferred to another for profit,” Tourkakis said.
He added that property is not easy to obtain and that once it is acquired, it just doesn’t seem fair to have the property taken away.
“I am confident–cautiously confident–that we will prevail,” Tourkakis said.
Since the ruling in May, those representing the city have worked diligently to prepare their arguments for an appellate decision. Sweeney is proud of the work accomplished.
“I’m very confident of a favorable outcome,” Sweeney said. “I think the law is pretty clear.”
Before suing Tourkakis, the city originally offered him $343,750 for his office property and to build him another office next to the new VFW Hall.
Sweeney tentatively expects a ruling from the Supreme Court in the spring.