By: Lee R. Schroeder, Attorney at Law, Schroeder, Blankemeyer and Schroeder, LLP
September 14, 2011
Folks who live along a road or street that is being widened in Ohio do not always know what to expect. ?Will the government pay me? If so, how will that payment be calculated, and when can I expect that payment?? are typical questions for neighboring landowners that arise in the context of a road widening project.
Roads, along with the shoulders, berms, and curbs adjacent to those roads, are typically widened on land that the government either owns or has paid for the right to use. The government?s right to use land is frequently referred to as a ?right-of-way?. If the government desires to widen a road onto land that it already owns or upon which it has a right-of-way, there is generally no compensation paid to neighboring landowners.
However, if the road is widened onto land that the government does not own or have the right to use, the government has to either buy that land or buy a right-of-way over that land. That ?acquisition? process typically involves three major steps:
(1) A property survey to identify how much new land will be needed and the exact location of the new or widened road along with research into the public records to determine who owns the land to be acquired;
(2) Appraisal of the land to be acquired based upon several long-standing and respected appraisal processes; and
(3) A purchase offer from the government for the land. If the landowner accepts the offer to purchase, a closing will take place within several weeks after the agreement is reached, which is when the landowner gets paid.
?The process of land acquisition for road widening is thorough, because it is designed to be fair?to the government and to the landowner,? stated Richard Bertz, Senior Vice President at Mannik & Smith Group, an engineering and consulting firm that is managing aspects of the County Road 5 widening project in Putnam County. Anna Mae Blankemeyer, a local attorney who limits her practice to real estate, agrees, ?The government right-of-way acquisition process is not always as fast as private real estate sales, but its complexity helps ensure that the law is followed.?
If the government encounters a landowner who does not agree to the purchase offer, in some instances, there may be some negotiation. However, in most instances, the government can file a civil lawsuit to acquire the land through eminent domain. In eminent domain cases, the landowner can contest the government?s right to purchase the land, but that is seldom a winning argument. Much more frequently, the only real issue in an eminent domain action is the value of the land to be acquired, which is something that a landowner can have a jury decide.
Source: http://sbslawoffice.com/real-estate-law/the-legal-aspects-of-road-widening
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