Oak Ridge North seeks property from owners
Eminent domain proceedings have begun against five who don’t want to sell land sought for project to widen and realign road
Oak Ridge North has approved starting eminent domain proceedings against five property owners along Robinson Road.
Four residential homeowners and Sojourn Baptist Church have refused to agree to sell parts of their land for the project.
Those refusals forced the city into eminent domain action, Oak Ridge North City Manager Heather Neeley said.
The church’s senior pastor said officials oppose the attempt to take the land but are willing to work with the city on a deal.
“Part of the issue is there are a lot of other expenses they (the city) are not accounting for, things being moved, the parking lot rearranged,” said Jess Larson, the senior pastor.
The city has plans to widen and realign Robinson, with two new lanes. Robinson is one of the more congested roads in south Montgomery County, with traffic flowing east from The Woodlands Parkway’s six lanes and off-ramps leading vehicles from the Interstate 45 frontage road onto the thoroughfare.
To widen the road, Neeley said that between 9 feet and 13 feet of land is estimated to be needed from each property owner.
“We have gone through the first step of passing a resolution, which allows us to proceed with a petition for eminent domain,” Neeley said. “None of this process discourages us from making a deal with landowners.”
In total, 18 properties are affected by the project.
Neeley stressed that despite misconceptions, the city does not “take” land with no compensation and pays a fair market price for what is used for the public good.
Neeley also said using eminent domain is a last resort tactic and that in her 14-plus years of working in the city’s administration, she could recall only one other instance of city leaders using eminent domain to acquire needed property.
“We would obviously not like to move forward with the condemnation process,” she added.
Issues related to Robinson have been present for years, although the upgrade to the I-45 overpass at The Woodlands Parkway as well as a re-design of the unusual on-ramp and offramp interchange on the east side of I-45 have helped ease congestion. The second part of those efforts, Neeley added, are to the east where Robinson Road will need to be realigned, widened and updated with traffic control improvements.
Larson, the senior pastor, said he and other church officials oppose the bid to take land from the church via eminent domain. He said that while no specifics have been revealed, the city has asked for land, much of which is where the church’s main sign is located.
“They are wanting to take about 10 feet in the front, which … impacts our sign,” Larson added. “There are also some bigger things in play we are concerned about.”
Larson said that because of legal negotiations with the city, he was limited in what he can discuss about the issue. He also said he was concerned about the secrecy of the project, done in closed executive session by the City Council.
“Everything happens behind closed doors, and we just find out afterward,” Larson added. “It might be legal, but is it ethical that all government decisions are done behind closed doors? I don’t know how you can be a public servant and have your discussions behind closed doors.”
The church has roughly 100 members, he said, and there are two small schools — Journey School and All Nations School — on the property.
“We would like to come to an amicable win-win for both parties,” Larson said.
Neeley said the timing of the road-widening project is on hold until the remaining five plots of land are acquired from the owners.