County settles with funeral home
Author: Eric Ferreri; Staff Writer, N&O, March 14, 2006
DURHAM -- The county avoided a court battle with a longtime local business owner Monday night, agreeing to pay more than $3.7 million for a key piece of downtown property where it will eventually build a new courthouse.
The county will pay $3.75 million for the Scarborough & Hargett Funeral Home property, a coveted piece of real estate on South Roxboro Street. The unanimous approval by the Durham Board of Commissioners ended several months of negotiations and allows the county to avoid taking the land through eminent domain proceedings, which it had planned to do if an agreement wasn't reached.
Eminent domain is a power governments can use to acquire private property to use for the public good.
"Scarborough & Hargett is a unique business, being in this community so long and being moved around [twice before]," said Commissioner Michael Page, who along with Philip Cousin cast the dissenting votes last month when the board decided to move ahead with the eminent domain proceedings. "I certainly didn't want to be the one to make them move."
Officials declined to discuss the negotiating process, but the sale price is significantly higher than a $1.52 million appraisal done recently for the county.
The county actually needs two land parcels to build its next courthouse and has started the legal process by which it plans to take ownership of adjacent land now home to a U-Haul rental agency. U-Haul officials have not responded to the county's attempts to negotiate a purchase price, officials have said.
County officials plan to finalize the purchase later this month, but since the new courthouse project is still in its infancy, the funeral home will be allowed to rent the property for $1 a year and continue operating until September 2007.
The sale price includes costs the funeral home's owner, J.C. "Skeepie" Scarborough, will incur upon closing the business and moving, as well as lost revenue during the transition. It isn't clear where the funeral home will relocate.
"We're just relieved that this process is over in a favorable manner for Mr. Scarborough," said James "Butch" Williams, one of five attorneys on Scarborough's legal team.
[Scarborough & Hargett, founded in 1871 to serve African-Americans, still has deep roots in the community. Before agreeing to buy the property, the county had started legal action against Scarborough & Hargett as well, angering some residents.]
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"Xavier basketball player C.J. Anderson won his appeal case before the University Discipline Board and has returned to classes at the university with the potential to rejoin the basketball team.
"He feels real good about it," said his father, Curtis Anderson. "He was vindicated for something he didn't do."
"Anderson was accused of raping a female Xavier student in September according to police reports, but Cincinnati police determined the matter did not warrant charges against Anderson."
Clearly they don't know how to handle things at Xavier.
They didn't fire the basketball coach, they didn't cancel the season, and they let the kid back in the school and on the team.
And as for the police, they need a few lessons from Sgt. Gottlieb on how to really conduct an investigation!