(The following article by Heather May was posted on the Salt Lake Tribune website on September 22.)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Council on Thursday voted to begin condemnation of eight pieces of property to help clean up train tracks downtown and make life easier – and quieter – for west-side residents.
But the move will also displace long-time business owners.
The land is needed to realign Union Pacific railroad tracks downtown called Grant Tower. Once completed in 2008, the new lines would allow UP trains to move more quickly through downtown, leading the company to retire its line that runs near 900 South through west-side neighborhoods, where residents fear a derailment and complain about trains ruining their property values.
The city is seeking property along South Temple between 600 West and 800 West and another piece nearby to be used to relocate some of the displaced landowners.
Those property owners say the city’s offers are too low, especially as land values continue to rise and won’t allow them to move to comparable property.
“This is our retirement,” Stacy Knox said of the high-end metal fabrication company she and her husband, Alan, own, along with the land they rent to 14 tenants. “It needs to be fair.”
“We’re willing to move,” said another land owner, Jason Broschinsky. “The offer’s just not there.”
The city hasn’t sought condemnation power in at least two decades, according to property managers’ memories.
While the city would prefer to avoid it this time – and officials are continuing to seek amicable agreements – there isn’t a lot of time left to negotiate, said D.J. Baxter, senior adviser to Mayor Rocky Anderson. Construction is on an “aggressive and fixed schedule” to start in December as the city tries to coordinate with UP and the Utah Transit Authority as it builds commuter rail in the area.
“The property owners [have] actually been very cooperative,” Baxter said. “A process like this is never easy, particularly on a business.”
The city has about $3.6 million to spend on property acquisition, which will cover buying smaller pieces of land from other owners. The city has offered the full appraised amount, but second appraisals are coming in higher. In one case, the city offered $550,000 and the owner wanted $1 million. In another, the city offered the owners’ full asking price of $330,000 but was told the price had jumped to $450,000.
Property owner Terry Nish once said the city would have to “bring the sheriff and the National Guard” to get him to move. He has since softened his stance, even though he and the city still disagree over the value of his land at 761 W. South Temple.
“I was quite critical of them in the start. I really have to say they’ve been congenial to work with and very appreciative of our problems here.”
Nish appreciates the Grant Tower project. The changes will lead to quiet zones in the area, which is where he lives.
“That in itself is going to be worth something to us. The trains and the whistles have become so obnoxious in the last few years. It disrupts your whole day and night.”