LTD files lawsuits to step up project.Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - Sometimes filing a lawsuit can speed things up, not slow them down, which may prove true in the case of Lane Transit District's bus rapid transit
The transit district A transit district or transit authority is a special-purpose district organized as either a corporation chartered by statute, or a government agency, created for the purpose of providing public transportation within a specific region. has filed suit against four property owners in the downtown Springfield area to gain small amounts of right of way the agency needs to begin construction on the first phase of its bus rapid transit system, which will link downtown Springfield and downtown Eugene. LTD took the step of filing for eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in lawsuits - a legal tool by which government agencies can acquire land or easements EASEMENTS, estates. An easement is defined to be a liberty privilege or advantage, which one man may have in the lands of another, without profit; it may arise by deed or prescription. Vide 1 Serg. & Rawle 298; 5 Barn. & Cr. 221; 3 Barn. & Cr. 339; 3 Bing. R. 118; 3 McCord, R. deemed essential for the public good - because negotiations with the property owners have failed to result in agreement. If the sides remain at odds as the lawsuit proceeds, a Lane County Circuit Court judge would set the price LTD will pay the property owners. "There are dozens of little bits of right of way along the corridor - sometimes as little as 10 square feet or so - and we have to come to agreement with the property owner about the value of each piece of property," Vobora said. "We always try to work with people to pay a fair price for the use or purchase of the land we need. Just because we have failed and filed a suit doesn't mean it will go to court." For example, building the new downtown Springfield LTD station involved negotiating right of way purchases with many landowners - including some court filings for eminent domain. But all were settled out of court, Vobora said. The right of way LTD seeks now - in the form of utility easements, temporary construction easements or actual infrastructure - in the transit district's view should be worth a total of $141,000, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court papers. However, Vobora said the biggest share of that - narrow strips on the edges of property owned by the Spring Garden Restaurant at Main Street and Pioneer Parkway West that LTD valued at $88,700 - has been settled since the filing of the lawsuit. Spring Garden owner Qi Zhu verified that he has reached agreement with LTD but didn't specify the monetary amount he will receive for the 2,100 square feet involved in the transaction. The remaining properties cited in the court documents belong to Donald Orchard orchard, generally an area on which fruit or nut trees are planted and cultivated. The words grove and plantation are often used when the fruits are tropical, e.g., a "citrus grove" or a "banana plantation. , Taco Time This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. International and Peter Kryl. LTD estimates the value of the needed easements and rights of way at about $26,000 for Orchard, $22,000 for Taco Time and $4,000 for Kryl. Securing those rights of way will allow the transit district to install traffic signals as well as accommodate the proposed bus rapid transit line, Vobora said. Many more negotiations will have to take place before the first bus rapid transit corridor can be built; the most complicated will be with the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. , he said. Nonetheless, LTD believes its plan for the system remains on track, Vobora said. A contract could be signed within the next two weeks to buy five New Flyer trainlike buses for the Eugene-Springfield corridor. Groundbreaking should take place on the project within the next two months, he said, with the system beginning operations in 2006. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion