- March 27, 2024
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Sarasota was the centerpiece of a recent federal court decision that could alter how the federal government decides what to pay landowners nationwide in eminent domain cases.
And since the feds usually have leverage in these cases, the decision also offers this somewhat rare nugget: The judge, Mary Ellen Coster Williams, blasted the U.S. Justice Department for its compensation approach to landowners who the department itself previously abused.
Williams, in short, called Justice's arguments and position a “red herring,” that were “wholly inappropriate” and “misguided.” In the Oct. 31 ruling, Williams also wrote that one legal suggestion by Justice Department attorneys was irrelevant and would be of “dubious value.”
The case, Rogers v. United States, is one of the largest of its kind in federal claims court. It has up to $40 million in potential payouts and lawyers' fees at stake.
The case encompasses 47 landowners in and around Palmer Ranch, in south Sarasota County. Those landowners, the plaintiffs in this case, were previously required to give parts of their property to the federal government, which used it for the Legacy Trail. That trail, a 100-foot wide recreational public space, was created under the Federal Trails Act.
In 2009, though, Williams ruled the government owed the landowners compensation for taking the land. The judge's more recent ruling stems from a hearing in how the government would appraise the value of the properties.
The government's contention, court records show, was the landowners were only owed nominal payouts, based partially on the value of the land when a railroad was built on it in 1910. But Williams squashed that theory, saying the appraisal must look at the difference in value before the railroad and after the trail. That's what the landowners argued.
Mark “Thor” Hearne, an attorney with offices in St. Louis and Washington, D.C. who represents the plaintiffs, says he hopes the judge's ruling resounds with the government. The Sarasota case has another hearing on compensation scheduled for later this month.
“We think (the government had) a repugnant strategy,” says Hearne. “We think if the government took this property, they should pay for it.”