The Ridgway Town Council has authorized town staff to pursue eminent domain proceedings to acquire an easement to create a trail between the River Park subdivision and Ridgway Secondary School.

The pathway has long been used by students as a shortcut, but is located on private property at 539 Marion Overlook. It’s currently blocked by a fence, and marked with three signs, which say “no trespassing,” “keep out” and “no public access.”

“There’s an unauthorized trail from River Park to the high school, that we are just trying to actually create the easement for so that there’s good, safe access and more direct access for pedestrian students and parents,” Mayor John Clark said last month’s Town Council meeting. “And we’ve been trying to negotiate with the property owner and now we’re looking at potentially condemnation.”

Councilors Kevin Grambley, Russ Meyer and Beth Lakin voted for the resolution; Terry Schuyler recused himself due to a conflict of interest; he owns the adjacent property.

The resolution approved by council said the town is seeking to acquire a 10-foot-wide easement along the east side of the property for the purpose of creating a recreational trail.

It authorizes the town manager, attorney or other designated representatives to “make reasonable and good faith offers to purchase” the land. If those negotiations are not successful, “the Town Attorney is hereby authorized to institute and prosecute eminent domain proceedings.”

According to county property records, the vacant lot is owned by David Sneed, whose mailing address is in Asheville, North Carolina. He could not be reached for comment.

He has owned the lot since 2008, and in 2010, the town paid him $11,000 for an easement on the property, records show. Town Manager Preston Neill said that easement was for utilities and is unrelated to the current situation.

Councilors have discussed the property during four executive sessions in September, October, November and January.

The adopted resolution is the first step of the condemnation process, which must be done for a public purpose or public good.

Attorney Joseph Rivera, who specializes in condemnation and is working with the town as special counsel, said negotiation efforts are another prerequisite before moving to court proceedings for condemnation. If it reaches that stage, the questions to be answered would include the market value of the land, and if there are any damages to the remainder of the property.

The owner must now be notified that the town has authorized the use of eminent domain.

“What this resolution does is it’s a formal announcement of the town’s intent to go down that pathway,” Rivera said.

Neill told the Plaindealer the town has sent written communications and made phone calls to Sneed over the last year, “to little to no effect.” He said he believes others in the community, including individuals and the homeowners’ association, have also made attempts at communicating with Sneed about the trail in the past.

Jack Petrucelli, a member of the Planning Commission who was president of the River Park HOA for 15 years, said the association tried to buy the easement and also offered to buy the entire property, with a plan to put in the easement, then sell the rest of the lot. Those conversations happened three to four years ago, he said.

“I made him very fair proposals and he has just been impossible to negotiate with,” he said. “We offered him twice what he paid for it, and he said it wasn’t enough.”

Because there is already an easement and setback requirements on the lot, “there’s no diminution of value,” Petrucelli argued. “He’s not losing anything.”

He said he brought the issue to the town previously when the HOA’s efforts weren’t successful.

Kuno Vollenweider was the most recent resident to bring the issue to the council in early 2022, and last month encouraged them “to not shy away from unpleasant dealings” in pursuing the condemnation. “It’s priceless what we do today for the future,” he said.

Ridgway Superintendent Susan Lacy said the school district has discussed the property with the town, and is supportive of the effort to allow students to have a shortcut to school.“That neighborhood is probably the largest concentrated area with families in the school,” she said.

The town’s next step is to get an appraisal of the property done by someone who specializes in condemnation procedures, Neill said.

Ridgway has previously used the power of eminent domain in 2014 to acquire 30 acres for the expansion of Lake Otonowanda, the town’s water storage facility located off County Road 5. In that case, eminent domain was used because the property was under a conservation easement which prevented the property from being voluntarily released, according to Plaindealer archives.

Liz Teitz is a journalist with Report for America, a national service program which places reporters in underserved areas. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation. Email erin@ouraynews.com for more information.