City moves to buy land near hospital

Mar 10, 2010 — El Paso Times

Gustavo Reveles Acosta

Mar. 10, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- EL PASO -- Eminent domain could be used by the city to take over a small parking lot near the Medical Center of the Americas.

The nearly half-acre lot at El Paso Drive and Alameda Avenue is needed by the city to reconfigure the intersection and improve traffic flow in the area.

But its Oklahoma owner has been reluctant to sell it at a fair price, city officials said.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted 7-1 to go back to the negotiation table, and -- if that doesn't work -- to begin proceedings to use eminent domain laws to take the land.

"The price the owner is giving us is so far up that it is ridiculous," City Manager Joyce Wilson said. "This is why we have eminent domain."

City officials would not say how much the owner -- a Shawnee, Okla., corporation known as 5100 El Paso Drive LLC -- was asking for the lot.

The El Paso Central Appraisal District lists its value at $85,747.

Eminent domain is a legal recourse governmental agencies have to force the sale of land for public use even when the private owner does not wish to sell it.

Under this seldom-used procedure, the governmental agency is forced to pay the owner a fair price for the land based on its valuation.

"That's what we want to do. We want to give the owner a fair price for his lot," Wilson said.

The owners of the land could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

East-Central city Rep. Emma Acosta, who represents the area where the medical center is situated, said she's glad the city is

taking the legal recourse to secure the land.

"This is a very important project that will help move the Medical Center of the Americas forward and help revitalize these older neighborhoods," she said. "I hope things get resolved during negotiations, but if eminent domain has to be used, then it is for the public good."

Only city Rep. Eddie Holguin voted against the motion, saying he is not willing to use eminent domain on any property.

Government takeover of private property has been a sour point for residents around the new Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and the University Medical Center who fear they will be pushed out of their homes to make way for new buildings.

"I am scared that this is the start of the process ... that we are next here in the neighborhoods," said Oscar Gonzalez, who rents a home just blocks from the parking lot the city wants to buy. "We live happily here. We don't want to move. We were here first."

Acosta said Tuesday that she will not support the use of eminent domain on any homes around the medical center, and she stressed that the case of the parking lot is unique.

"This is different. It's just a parking lot. There's nothing there," she said. "This council, myself included, have said we will not use eminent domain on residents."

Gustavo Reveles Acosta may be reached at greveles@elpasotimes.com;546-6133.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0478-42735979