$1 Million Settlement Ends Property Battle

Bringing to an end a long battle over the value of a 1.25-acre parcel of land on Canwood Street, the city of Agoura Hills agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle a condemnation case with the property owner.

Under the terms of the July 12 settlement, the Yellin family is to receive $965,523 for the property, plus $80,079 in interest required by the state.

The city had already offered and put into escrow $682,650 with Los Angeles Superior Court, so it will only have to pay an additional $362,952 to satisfy the case, said City Manager Dave Adams.

Bernice Yellin, an Encino resident, said she was tired after nine years of battling the city over the issue and she wanted to stop the legal wrangling.

“Four years of trying for a development negotiation and five years in court, that takes a long time out of someone’s life,” the 73-year-old Yellin said. “At my age, I could not have afforded to go through another five years of trial and appeals.”

The city had used eminent domain to acquire the Yellin property in 1991, the last remaining of the five parcels needed to extend Canwood Street, which runs parallel to and north of the Ventura Freeway and east of Dairy Road. Four other families had accepted the city’s offers for their land years ago, but Yellin had asked for more, and the city filed a condemnation action after it could not reach an agreement.

According to Adams, Yellin wanted $2.3 million; Yellin said Monday that she had asked for $1.5 million.

“The settlement is still considerably less than the $2.3 million she wanted,” Adams said, “though it is still much more than was paid to the other four homeowners at that time. But in the spirit of getting this thing settled, the city decided to up the offer.”

Canwood was expanded as part of the city’s redevelopment plan to clean up the area and attract new businesses.

Adams said the move has already been beneficial, improving traffic flow in the area and helping commercial development.