Eminent Domain May Be Used to Remove Roadblock

The City Council may flex its muscle Monday and begin condemnation proceedings against two landowners who have failed to reach an agreement with the developer of the Wal-Mart shopping center for the construction of a $1.6-million extension of Cochran Street.

Council members will discuss whether to use eminent domain to obtain a 1.3-acre parcel of land to provide access to the soon-to-be-built Simi at the Plaza, a 308,000-square-foot shopping center near the intersection of Madera Road and the Ronald Reagan Freeway. The center will also include a Home Depot.

“There are good reasons for us to do this,” said Assistant City Manager Don Penman. “It’s a condition within the developer’s agreement to build the extension and it’s part of the city’s general plan.”

Property owners James Basile of Newbury Park and Adrian Murphy of Woodland Hills have been notified that the city may use eminent domain to obtain their land.

Four other landowners who also own a share of the property at Madera Road and Cochran Street have already agreed to sell.

The two have been offered $1.15 per square foot by developer Stanley Rothbart for the property, but have been unwilling to sell.

Some city officials suggest that having the land condemned and taken through eminent domain provides owners with an attractive alternative to selling properties outright.

Cities that force the sale of properties often provide landowners with certain tax benefits and relieve them from all future liability.

Basile and Murphy declined to comment, but Penman said he didn’t feel that was the issue.

“My sense is that isn’t [Basile’s] goal,” he said. “Mr. Basile has indicated that he’d like to find a resolution to the problem, but there are some details that still need to be worked out.”

Penman met with Basile for more than three hours Wednesday, but was unable to hammer out a resolution.

Murphy had originally agreed to sell the property, but after Rothbart had opened escrow, Murphy raised a number of objections to the deal.

Rothbart had been hoping to break ground for the $40-million project to have it open by November--in time for the next holiday shopping season. The delayed negotiations, however, have not altered his timetable and hopes to begin construction in February.

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Under an agreement forged with the city last year, Rothbart will pay for the road extension, which will fill a quarter-mile gap in Cochran Street between Madera Road and 1st Street, to provide easy access to the shopping center and open the street as an east-west connector through the city.

The city will eventually reimburse Rothbart for the cost of construction with funds collected through federal housing grants.

While taking land through eminent domain is a rare practice in Simi Valley, it has been employed before to obtain properties deemed vital to the collective interest of the city.

In the mid-1980s, the city used eminent domain to acquire several acres of property needed to locate the interchange between Madera Road and the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

If the council decides to move ahead with the condemnation, the land could be acquired within the next few weeks, Penman said. The price, however, must still be determined by the courts.

The city would then purchase the land with money already deposited by Rothbart.