Judge approves RFTA eminent domain action in Basalt

by Chad Abraham, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

 

A judge has approved the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s request to seize a private parcel of land in Basalt that the agency wants for its $46 million overhaul of transit in the valley.

The Jan. 18 order by Judge Gail Nichols of Pitkin County District Court says that RFTA and the town of Basalt, which is a co-petitioner in the eminent domain proceeding, have the legal authority to take the land. Nichols also ruled that the property along Basalt Avenue serves a public purpose.

RFTA will pay a $600,000 deposit to the court registry to gain immediate title of the approximately half-acre parcel, and pay $12,398.44 to the Pitkin County Treasuer’s Office to cover outstanding property taxes, the judge’s order says. (The transit agency is paying for the land acquisition, and the town signed on as co-petitioner in a show of support, officials have said.)

The Cathers family of Basalt, owners of the Cathers Home Furniture Store across the street from the land in question, has waived all challenges to RFTA’s eminent domain authority.

But the family “has specifically reserved the right to seek additional compensation for the taking, which shall be the sole issue remaining for trial,” the order says.

Paul Cathers, CEO of his family’s business, said in December that he and his relatives believed the bus agency was low-balling during negotiations. RFTA’s original offer for the land was in the neighborhood of $585,000, Cathers said, a sum that is less than what the family paid for it six or seven years ago.

The family’s appraisal valued the land at $1 million, Cathers said.

As part of RFTA’s $46 million bus-rapid transit plan, the land will be used to expand by 100 spaces the existing park-and-ride lot near Highway 82.

Dan Blankenship, RFTA CEO, said Monday that the judge’s ruling was good news. The expanded lot is clearly needed, as the current lot often fills to capacity and leaves people parking on nearby Cody Lane, he said.

Nichols’ action moves the agency a step closer to entering the town of Basalt’s land-use process and gaining approval for the expanded lot.

RFTA also has a second eminent domain action pending in Pitkin County District Court for an adjacent piece of land in Basalt. The parcel is about three-quarters of an acre, according to owner Bob Myers of the nearby Myers & Co. Architectural Metals.

On Friday, Myers’ attorney filed an answer to RFTA’s eminent domain bid.

A $900,000 deposit from RFTA into the court registry “constitutes a sufficient deposit for the immediate possession of the subject parcel by the petitioners,” the answer says.

The deal, if approved by RFTA and Nichols, would come with a nearly $12,000 payment to cover property taxes. Neither RFTA nor Myers have disclosed the amounts of the original offer and counteroffer.

Land acquisition is a crucial hurdle for the agency, which is seeking to: build new bus stops that offer riders better protection from the elements, and provide real-time information on where their next bus is and when they can expect its arrival; install electronic fare-collection systems and passenger counters on buses; and implement a tracking system to help RFTA staff improve the system’s efficiency, among other goals.

Work on some aspects of bus-rapid transit have already begun. But construction of infrastructure improvements like the bus stops and park-and-ride lots cannot begin until RFTA owns the land and gets requisite land-use approvals from various jurisdictions.

RFTA, within the next week or two, expects to take title of a private property on 27th Street in Glenwood Springs, said Angela Kincade, the transit authority’s assistant director for property management. RFTA, which has not used eminent domain in the Glenwood negotiations, wants to build a new transit station on the site.

“We’re moving forward with everything, making good progress,” Kincade said.

A sticking point remains RFTA’s plans in El Jebel. RFTA wants to acquire private land from the Moss family near Movieland for a 125-spot park-and-ride lot. But it is awaiting a transit plan from Eagle County that involves a new recreation center for the area. Eagle County commissioners are to discuss the transit plan Feb. 7.

chad@aspendailynews.com

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/151561