By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Town of Davis and Real Estate Developer Pete Johnson have reached a settlement in the eminent domain suit filed by the Town against Johnson and his Riverwalk development project. In a joint statement supplied to The Parsons Advocate by Johnson, the Town of Davis agreed to dismiss the Town’s Petition for Condemnation.
The joint statement stated that the Town, Davis Parks and Recreation Commission and the Davis Municipal Building Commission all agreed to the dismissal. All three entities were originally listed as petitioners on the Town’s petition for condemnation of the Riverwalk Subdivision property in the Town’s filing. “The Town of Davis, The Town of Davis Municipal Building Commission and the Davis Parks and Recreation Commission, Inc., have agreed to dismiss the Petition of Condemnation,” the statement reads.
The statement also attests that the Town of Davis, as well as the other entities listed on the original petition, do not intent do file any other petition to condemn the property. “The Town of Davis, The Town of Davis Municipal Building Commission, and the Davis Parks and Recreation Commission, Inc., agree that they do not have any plans to file another Petition for Condemnation,” the statement writes. “The parties look forward to working together to allow for the completion of the project.”
As previously reported in The Parsons Advocate, the condemnation filing had affected the sale and development of 12 lots within the Riverwalk Subdivision project and left several buyers in limbo from lots under contract that could not complete financing due to the filing. As well as housing, the development is planned to include a green space park area and trail access through a donated tract to the DNR that is slated to tie into the trail and bridge proposed with the Friends of the Blackwater, according to Johnson’s previous interview.
The Town of Davis and Mayor Al Tomson, as previously reported in The Parsons Advocate, had denied any wrong doing in regards to the filing. In an interview with The Parsons Advocate previously, Tomson has said the matter had been before the Town Council for two years prior to the filing. Tomson outlined in that interview that the Town had intended to use the property included in the eminent domain filing to improve parking in the downtown area and expand the riverfront park.
The issuing of the joint statement and the dismissal of the condemnation filing brings an end to the eminent domain issues facing the future of the Riverwalk Subdivision Project. The dismissal of the Town’s petition will allow for future development and sale of lots in the area of Phase Two of the project as well as allow the project’s frontage road to remain property of the Riverwalk project’s Home Owner’s Association.
