ANAHEIM : City to Seize Land Near Planned Arena

The City Council on Tuesday voted to take by eminent domain a vacant strip of land near the planned Anaheim Arena for use as parking space, rejecting a plan by the landowner to lease the valuable property to the city.

The council unanimously approved the plan to condemn the property and seize it in exchange for $70,000. Council members said negotiations with the owner, Clayton E. Scarbrough Trust Inc., had again stalled and no workable settlement could be achieved.

“We just didn’t find their proposal acceptable,” said Robert M. ZurSchmiede, property services manager.

In earlier negotiations, Scarbrough argued that the property is worth at least $1 million per acre.

In a previous lease agreement, Scarbrough Trust allowed the county to use the property as a flood-control easement. Craig Kennedy, an attorney for Scarbrough Trust, said that county officials then mistakenly subleased the property to the city of Anaheim for arena parking.

Kennedy said that Scarbrough would have accepted a deal similar to the lease agreement between the city and the county. Under that agreement, Anaheim leased the land in exchange for 5% of net arena profits and 5% of net parking revenues.

“The city has already agreed to pay this money to the county,” said Kennedy. “Naturally, the Scarbrough Trust questions why the city offered such a small amount to them when it had already agreed to a much larger amount to the county.”

Last month, the council held a hearing to condemn the property after several offers to buy the land from Scarbrough were rejected. At that meeting, Kennedy suggested entering a long-term agreement to lease the site; the council postponed a final decision while it studied the lease plan.

The lease plan was devised after Scarbrough scoffed at the city’s attempt to take the property for what he considered a low price. The owner said he would not consider selling the property for less than $1 million an acre.

Condemnation procedures will begin immediately, and the city expects to take possession of the land within 30 days. However, Scarbrough may initiate a legal challenge to the condemnation.