Offer for John R property
not enough, owners say

Land needed to widen roadway from two to five lanes, city says

By Terry Oparka
C & G Staff Writer

TROY — The city will likely go to court soon to get the property needed to widen John R, although the project won’t start for at least five years.

At issue are the home and property owned by James and Elizabeth Munchiando on the west side of John R, north of Square Lake Road. The proposed right of way line for the John R widening project goes right through the Munchiandos’ home.

According to assessing records available on the city’s Web site, the parcel is just under an acre and includes 165 feet of frontage. The home, built in 1901, is more than 3,200 square feet and has a State Equalized Value — about half the market value — of $156,290. 

A divided City Council approved city leaders’ request at the July 21 meeting to allow the city to make an offer to purchase the property and initiate court action to impose eminent domain to acquire the property. Mayor Pro Tem Martin Howyrlak opposed the action. He could not be reached for additional comment. 

The city has offered the couple $531,881 for the property. The offer is based on appraisals by a state-certified appraiser, a deputy city assessor/state licensed appraiser, and a real estate appraiser. The offer is based on a market assessment of $425,000, plus an additional 1.25 percent of the market appraisal and $631 for the state homestead exemption. The Munchiandos would also be reimbursed for closing costs and possibly moving expenses.

“It’s not adequate,” said Jerry Resick, attorney for the Munchiandos.

Resick said the Munchiandos raised their family in the home, added onto it a couple of times and enjoy the view of the lake from their backyard.

“It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” he said. He added that the Munchiandos planned to build a new home.

City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm said she expected that the city would initiate court action, a condemnation hearing, to acquire the property in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Bluhm said the property owners may contest the action, and if the city can show that acquiring the property is a necessity, which Bluhm expects to happen, then the case would likely go to a jury to work out compensation and possession.

The city wants to move forward on the John R project at this time because the land acquisition portion of the widening is 80 percent federally funded, and those funds must be used or lost.

“There is no funding for the construction portion of the project at this time,” said City Engineer Steven Vandette. “Federal funding is spoken for until 2012.”

Vandette said that John R would be widened from two to five lanes in two phases — from Long Lake to Square Lake, and from Square Lake to South Boulevard.

“We first try to negotiate and hope that things can be worked out, but the law is clear,” said Mayor Louise Schilling. “If it (the road widening project) is good for the general public, we can go through condemnation.”