Joplin intersection project encounters property dispute
Aug. 18—Work to renovate the intersection of 15th Street and Range Line Road is on hold while city officials renegotiate with a property owner for two pieces of right of way and easements needed for the project.
The owner, OZH LLC, has declined city offers based on appraisals to purchase land needed for the project.
The Joplin City Council on Monday authorized city staff to conduct further negotiations with the owner. That company developed and owns the buildings and land on the northeast corner of the intersection.
If a deal cannot be reached with the negotiations, condemnation proceedings would be filed in Jasper County Circuit Court for the city to seek a court-ordered purchase of the needed land.
According to discussion of the condemnation requests, the owner has rejected a city offer to pay $15,800 to purchase 708 square feet of right of way and 25 square feet of temporary easement, which the council was told was the fair market value established by a property appraisal.
In addition, the city has been unable to reach an agreement for the purchase of an additional 996 square feet of right of way and 472 square feet of temporary easement from the same company. The city offered $22,800 for that property.
The council approved an ordinance that declares it a public necessity to acquire the land for a public project and authorizes the further efforts to obtain the land.
Motorists now access businesses within the shopping district on a lane the developer installed as a temporary measure. Access to other stores is through parking lots on the property rather than fully developed streets.
Members of the City Council agreed in 2017 to pursue the project, which will involve building a proper street with curbs, gutters and stormwater drainage.
In addition, a right turn lane is to be added at the intersection with Range Line, which is where the OZH property is needed. Because Range Line is a state highway controlled by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, that state agency is working with the city and helping to fund the construction project at the intersection.
If the property would require a condemnation action, the city would file an action in Jasper County Circuit Court seeking a determination that it has the right to take the property by eminent domain. If the judge finds the taking is proper, three commissioners would be appointed to assess the value or the damages to be paid to the owner for the taking of the property.
The city's costs for the turn lane are to be paid with revenue from a tax increment financing district that was granted before the shopping district was built to pay for infrastructure.
City staff, at earlier meetings in 2017 and 2018 on the street project, provided information on five options for financing the $2 million street project. At that time, there was about half the project cost, $998,000, available in the TIF.
One option was to extend the life of the TIF to collect the rest of the money needed.
Another was for the city to pay for work in stages and seek reimbursement from the TIF as the work was done out of the taxes that accumulate in the district each year from collections rather than extending the life of the taxing district. The council approved that option in 2017.
