In many eminent domain cases, the government does not want to take your entire property. Instead, the government will only need part of your property, which can allow you to retain ownership and occupancy of the rest. While this may not seem like a big deal, partial takings can significantly affect landowners in a variety of ways. Partial taking can especially affect business owners in commercial properties affected by the taking.
Take, for example, a situation currently happening in which a city wants to build a new sports stadium for its high school. In order to better accommodate the expected surge in traffic due to the stadium, the city also wants to widen a roadway. Along this roadway sits numerous businesses and the owners are all very concerned about the effects of a potential taking.
While no action has been taken yet, reports indicate that the business owners have heard rumors about taking that would result in the following:
-Loss of a parking lot and/or a side dining room of a pizzeria and restaurant;
-Loss of valuable display space in two different car dealerships;
-Loss of significant space in a dentist’s office.
In many cases, even losing a few feet of property can tragically harm a business. For example, if there is nowhere to park at a restaurant, customers may choose to drive to eat elsewhere. Car dealerships that are unable to properly park and display cars will be unable to sell those cars. If a dentist loses a waiting room or examination rooms, they will have to take fewer patients. Often, this loss in profits can be fatal to a small business.
In addition, with less space or an awkward setup due to the taking, the property value may plummet and cause even more financial issues for owners. For all of these reasons, even partial takings should be taken extremely seriously.
Call Our Eminent Domain Law Firm for Help Today
No matter what type of taking you are facing, you should call a condemnation attorney as soon as possible. The law firm of Sever Walker Padgitt has offices in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina. However, we have the resources and skill to represent landowners in condemnation cases nationwide. Call today at 888-318-3761 for more information.
