Hollister
– Although county officials plan to break ground on the
long-planned Highway 25 bypass on Tuesday, four landowners continue
to fight the San Benito County Council of Government’s claim to
their property.
Hollister – Although county officials plan to break ground on the long-planned Highway 25 bypass on Tuesday, four landowners continue to fight the San Benito County Council of Government’s claim to their property.
Several of the remaining disputes center on how much the landowners are getting paid. In fact, COG Transportation Manager Mary Dinkuhn said the agency has acquired all of the land needed for the bypass through eminent domain, so the ongoing litigation should not affect construction at all.
Hollister attorney James Paxton represents K&S Market, which owns the land and building occupied by the Safeway supermarket on Tres Pinos Road. Paxton said COG owes his clients more money than it has offered. After all, he said, the bypass will involve widening Tres Pinos Road, which will eliminate 28 of Safeway’s parking spots.
“That makes a big difference,” he said.
The details of the financial negotiations are confidential, Paxton said, but he said COG’s initial offer in 2004 was unreasonable. Subsequent offers have improved, he said, but his clients still aren’t satisfied.
Jim McNamee, whose family grows row crops on an 18-acre parcel of land across San Felipe Road from Tiffany Ford, was equally critical of COG’s initial offer: $500 for a 1,400-square foot parcel of land, including 175 feet along San Felipe Road.
“That’s like me coming up to you and asking to buy your new BMW for $200,” McNamee said.
Both Paxton and McNamee emphasized that they are not trying to stop or even delay construction of the bypass. They just want to make sure they’re compensated fairly.
“I mean, I don’t want a bypass there … but cities don’t go on what individuals want,” McNamee said.
Dinkuhn said COG has had to acquire 30 parcels of land in order to build the bypass, which will reroute Highway 25 off San Benito Street to a new road east of McCray Street.
The litigation shouldn’t affect the project’s budget, Dinkuhn said.
COG has allocated $13.5 million for land acquisition, and she said that even if the cost of the four parcels still question ends up being more than expected, the project should still come in under budget.
“We budgeted for the worst-case scenario,” she said.
According to Brenda Aguilar-Guerrero, an Oakland attorney representing COG, not only has the agency acquired all the needed land, but it’s paid for it as well. Aguilar-Guerrero said that if landowners weren’t satisfied with COG’s offer last year, the payment was deposited in a bank account so it could accrue interest while litigation continues.
“Hopefully in a couple months we’ll have it all resolved or we’ll have a trial date,” she said.
Aguilar-Guerrero said the only remaining litigant who contests COG’s right to her land is Janet Roberts, from whom the agency has acquired a triangular, 180,000-square-foot parcel between Highway 25 and San Felipe Road.
Roberts’ attorney, Dennis Kehoe, said part of his client’s claim against COG is that escalating costs and continual delays have made the project impossible – and it’s not fair to seize someone’s land for a highway that will never be built.
Kehoe said he plans to depose Dinkuhn on May 7.
When asked if the impending groundbreaking undermines his argument, Kehoe said, “Well, I can tell you more after (the deposition).”
Kehoe has also argued that the project’s initial approval has made it impossible for Roberts to sell her property since the early 1990s.
Aguilar-Guerrero said she’s hoping Roberts will drop her resistance to the project itself after the deposition. At that point, she said, COG and Roberts can sit down and start talking money.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
