Jury Stops Port Authority
The Jacksonville Port Authority probably will pass on acquiring 70 acres at the north end of Talleyrand Avenue by eminent domain, deterred by the $67.4 million price.
Having won a court ruling in December 2006 that the authority could take the property, it had not committed to doing so until the price was settled. Now it knows that price is more than four times what the authority offered before filing for condemnation.
A jury decided May 2 the authority would have to pay $67.4 million to fully compensate Keystone Coal Co. for its industrial riverfront property. The verdict followed a two-week valuation trial that was the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year process the authority had followed to acquire the land for expansion.
"It would be hard to justify purchasing the property for that amount," Authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin said. "I don't know of any maritime use that would generate a return on investment that would justify such a price."
This is eminent domain at its worst. The government attempts to take from one owner simply to transfer to a preferred developer from China! Only in America could a state rule allow dismissal of the taking because it was more than the buyer wanted to pay!
