Posted on 07/17/2008 10:14:55 AM PDT by Daveinyork
Jury to York County: Highpoint land worth $17.25 million A York jury awards a Lancaster developer an additional $10 million for his former property.
Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Last Updated: 07/17/2008 07:35:36 AM EDT
LATEST TRIAL UPDATES
3:33 p.m. -- Jury returns with a verdict.
The jury decided the county should have paid a Lancaster developer $17.25 million as fair market value for his Lower Windsor Township land, when it seized it for a park. Peter Alecxih has received $7.5 million for the land so far.
County solicitor Mike Flannelly said the county has 30 days to appeal, and it can only do that if errors in the law were made during the trial.
President Commissioner Steve Chronister and Commissioner Doug Hoke said an appeal is unlikely. They said they want to find ways to pay the money without increasing taxes.
Updates will be posted as they become available.
2:02 p.m -- A York jury is deliberating on the Highpoint land price case.
11:41 a.m. -- Herbert Bass said data used in the county's appraisals was flawed.
Properties compared with Highpoint in the county's appraisals were not appropriate comparisons, he said.
Some were raw land and some were of a lesser class of luxury home developments, he said.
Earlier today, Bresnahan said Alecxih's appraisals were flawed partly because they used properties close to major metropolitan areas - not the York County region.
10:35 a.m. -- Lancaster developer Peter Alecxih's attorney, Herbert Bass, is now giving his closing remarks.
10:20 a.m. -- In his closing argument, Bresnahan said Alecxih's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- legal team manipulated Highpoint calculations and "exaggerated" the fair market value of the Lower Windsor Township land.
9:20 a.m. -- Closing arguments in the case begin with county's attorney, William Bresnahan, starting his closing argument.
Jurors are tasked to determine if the county paid a Lancaster developer a fair amount for the Lower Windsor Township property.
9 a.m. --Trial resumed in York at the historic courthouse this morning.
Highpoint timeline: April 2002: The 79-acre Highpoint parcel is sold to developer Peter Alecxih Jr. and Lauxmont Holdings LLC for $1.17 million.
May 2004: County condemns Highpoint for a park. The county values the land at $2 million based on a recent appraisal.
June 2004: Alecxih challenges the legality of the condemnation, alleging the commissioners acted in bad faith and abused their discretion.
June 2005: Senior Judge Lawrence E. Wood, of Chester County, hears five days of testimony and visits Highpoint.
October 2005: Wood issues his opinion, dismissing all of Alecxih's preliminary objections.
October 2006: A board of viewers determines the property is worth $10.5 million. Both sides later appeal the decision to a jury trial.
September 2007: County pays Alecxih the additional $5.5 million after three new appraisals show the revised estimated just compensation at $7.5 million.
October 2007: Alecxih sues the county in federal court, saying a bad faith estimate for the value of Highpoint basically destroyed his business. After the condemnation, he said he was not able to continue his business at the same level of sales volume. The county says there is "nothing to the allegations."
June 2008: Federal Judge John E. Jones III dismisses Alecxih's suit, ruling it is too early for Alecxih to file the case because of the pending trial in York County common pleas court.
July 7: Alecxih tells a York County jury that he could earn at least $17 million by developing Highpoint.
July 9: Two experts testifying for Alecxih value the land at more than $16 million.
July 10: An appraiser testifying for the county says the land is worth about $8 million. Later in the trial, two other witnesses for the county value the land between $7 and $8 million.
July 16: The jury decides that Highpoint is worth $17.25 million, meaning the county owes Alecxih $9.75 million.
Story published in today's York Daily Record:
Land trial nears end
Both sides present their closing arguments today in York.
by EUGENE PAIK
Daily Record/Sunday News
The nearly two-week-long Highpoint trial, which will determine how much the 79-acre property was worth when it was condemned in 2004, is close to its conclusion.
Testimony for the trial ended Tuesday afternoon, and attorneys for the county and former property owner Peter Alecxih Jr. will present their closing arguments this morning.
A jury of nine women and three men will decide how much Alecxih is owed.
Herbert Bass, Alecxih's attorney, called about a dozen witnesses to testify. Among them were Alecxih, County Commissioner Steve Chronister, a banker, buyers of Highpoint lots, developers and appraisers.
Alecxih's appraisers said the Lower Windsor Township tract was valued at more than $16 million when the county used eminent domain to take what is now the Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area.
The county called three witnesses -- all appraisers -- who estimated the land between $7 million and $8 million.
The last witness for the county, appraiser Jeffrey Walters, testified that the property was worth $7.5 million.
As he did with the county's two other witnesses, Bass dug through Walters' appraisal report. He challenged several properties used in the appraisal that were compared to Highpoint.
Some of the properties, Bass said, were raw land that were not equals of Highpoint, which had made strides in the development process.
Alecxih contends that the approvals and his efforts to get Highpoint ready for homes had boosted the tract's value.
Walters stood by his estimate Tuesday and disagreed with two points Bass raised: That luxury homes at Highpoint could sell for $2 million on average and that Alecxih could sell his 51 lots quickly.
Those were "unrealistic expectations," he said.
The view of the Susquehanna River might be impressive, Walters said, but not many people wanted to build $2 million homes in York County. A more realistic price would be closer to $1 million, he said.
"We don't get that exotic around here in the south-central market," Walters said.
Bass also called two rebuttal witnesses Tuesday to testify.
epaik@ydr.com; 771-2001
NEXT UP A 12-member jury will determine this week how much the 79-acre Highpoint was worth when it was taken by the county in 2004.
Jurors will make their decision based solely on testimony from the trial.
Witnesses for developer Peter Alecxih Jr. said the Lower Windsor Township property is worth at least $16 million. The county's witnesses said the value was about $8 million.
The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today in the ceremonial courtroom of the York County Administrative Center.
The developer got justice, the preservation whackos still got their way, as usual, and, as usual, the taxpayers got screwed.
IF the taxpayers are paying attention (doubful), they’ll have their say in the next election.
Hmmm, I’m wondering if that will impact eminent domain decisions or if public officials will condemn anyway.
Enough decisions like this might slow the eminent domain advocates, but it’s still other’s people money they are dealing with.
“IF the taxpayers are paying attention (doubful), they’ll have their say in the next election.”
They already have. The commissioners who seized the land have both been voted out - twice. They both lost in their respective parties’ primaries, then they lost in a write in campaign in the general election. The problem is that the taxpayers are still on the hook.
Great, my friggin’ county taxes are going to go up again!
“but it’s still other’s people money they are dealing with.”
Precisely. The bad guys win no matter which way the jury decides..
The county, like our federal government is composed of robber Barons.... and we keep putting them in office!
In short, by letting market forces rather than eminent domain figure out what the highest and best use was for the land it'd be available for the cost of a box of matches and $1.00 to turn into a park.
The county would have saved everything it misspent on the place too!
agreed. But few politicians trust the free market, or believe in the morality of liberty.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.