Supervisors table land condemnation

The Orange County Board of Supervisors again postponed a condemnation of land near the county airport for likely the last time. Henry Howell, attorney for Helen Marie Taylor, the owner of the 1.4-acre parcel, asked the board for another 30 to 45 days for an independent assessor to value the land. The board gave Taylor until April 24.

The board has been attempting to acquire the land since 2007 because the Federal Aviation Administration requires localities to own the land surrounding airports. Taylor’s land was intended to be part of an initial condemnation of land, but inadequate notification removed it from that effort. Since then condemnation has been delayed repeatedly as Taylor and the county have disagreed on the value of the parcel, eventually reaching a nearly $200,000 impasse.

Howell used the public comment portion of the meeting to speak on behalf of Taylor, who was not present.

“I’m speaking before you tonight hoping to delay the actual resolution for condemnation,” said Howell. “Ms. Taylor wants to settle the matter and has gone to the expense to hire an independent appraiser to get something done now.”

Howell said that the appraiser is currently working on valuing the parcel on Bloomsbury Road and that once that appraisal is completed, he promised the written appraisal report will satisfy the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA will actually be footing the bill for the condemnation, as the county is attempting to acquire the land in question for airport purposes.

“We hope to resolve the matter without litigation; that’s Ms. Taylor goal, and certainly is my goal,” said Howell.

The board was very receptive to the request for an extension, but indicated that this will likely be the last time.

“They asked for 30 days, we’ll give them a little bit more, but my personal feeling is we’ve given them all the extensions I’m willing to give,” said District 5 Supervisor Lee Frame.

County attorney Sharon Pandak said the county will likely need the appraisal report by late March, before it is then sent to the FAA for review. Director of public works, Kurt Hildebrand, said the review process is not lengthy and should be completed in approximately two weeks.

Taylor received her extension by a 4-1 vote, with District 3 Supervisor and board chairman Teel Goodwin not supporting the latest delay.