Eminent Domain Approved For Confluence Parkway Phase 1
Wenatchee is taking another step in building the Confluence Parkway project with approval from the city council to move forward with eminent domain.
The process allows the city to condemn private property and tear down buildings that are in the way of the project.
Jimmy Holman with Earhart's Collision Repair says his business will be severely disrupted by the move.
"We have $75,000 in remodeling that building," said Holman. "Now we have to move. "I was up until 3 clock this morning trying to find real estate. It's not there."
The City Council approved the eminent domain process to move forward at their Thursday evening meeting. The vote was 5-1 with Councilor Keith Huffaker being the lone vote against.
Only Holman and the property owner of the owner building his business occupies spoke out against the move in the public hearing portion of the city council meeting.
Holman said his business will suffer extreme hardship. "We've been looking for a building for seven years," Holman said. "Finally moved into this one to expand. And the math and the books showed that it was the right move to move. Now we have to try and move out into someplace else."
A total of 20 buildings are to be condemned through eminent domain affecting 18 property owners.
The property owners will be reimbursed for the holdings at fair market value and have other expenses taken care of, according to Seattle based attorney Kinnon Williams, a specialist in eminent domain law, who explained the process to the city council Thursday night.
Property owners can either settle with the city, or go to court with a lawsuit. Williams said 99 percent of the cases settle. He said judges will allow eminent domain to proceed unless it's determined a jurisdiction is determined to be fraudulently acquiring the property.
All 20 properties affected by the eminent domain approved Thursday sit along Miller Avenue and Hawley Street, which are part of Phase 1 of the Confluence Parkway project.
Phase 1 will build a new bridge over the BNSF railway at North Miller Street and a new bridge under the BNSF railway for McKittrick Street. A roundabout will be constructed at a bend in the road where Miller Avenue turns into Hawley Street. McKittrick Street will intersect at the roundabout, once it's extended to that location.
Construction on Phase 1 of the Confluence Parkway project is set to begin in the spring of next year. It's current budget is $128 million. Current plans call for Phase one to be substantially completed and open to traffic by November of 2027.
The Confluence Parkway project is divided into 4 Phases that includes a bridge over the Wenatchee River. The parkway will be 2.5 miles in length. The south end is the intersection of Wenatchee Avenue and Miller Street. The parkway will run north from there and connect with U.S. 2/97 in north Wenatchee.