LUCAS COUNTY, OH (Toledo News Now) - An eminent domain court case is imminent, in connection to the McCord Road underpass project.
The Lucas County Engineer's office has yet to settle on a price with five property owners for right-of-way acquisition.
One property is a strip mall just north of the Norfolk-Southern tracks, owned by the Roach Group, based in Bowling Green. Records show the owner was offered $370,000, but the Lucas County Auditor's current appraised value is $713,000.
Attorney Marvin Robon is representing the Roach Group, and he believes the fair value should be set at what it was worth before the underpass project was a done deal.
"The county auditor is a function of the county government, but you have the engineering department who's doing the right-of-way, they're saying 'Well, the county auditor's number is not accurate.' That's bull crap, if I can use that word," Robon said. "When the appraiser now looks at the property, says 'Well I got a building that's three-quarters empty, so it's not worth a whole lot,' it's not fair."
A representative from the Cleveland-based group, Blossom Investment Group LLC, which owns a flower shop along McCord, also says the county is making a low-ball offer for its property, at $185,000.
Robon says he expects the dispute to be settled by a jury through eminent domain proceedings.
"Today if we put a for sale sign on it, who would buy a building that we know is going to be torn down and is going to be subject to a lawsuit? Nobody."
Should the dispute go to court, Lucas County Engineer Keith Earley does not expect that to hold up the timeline for starting construction next year.
