City sends nine northwest Cedar Rapids homes to eminent domain proceedings to finish flood control acquisitions

CEDAR RAPIDS — Nine more homes were referred Tuesday to a Linn County panel to initiate eminent domain proceedings as the city of Cedar Rapids looks to finalize home acquisitions for flood control in the Northwest Neighborhood.

The nine-member City Council unanimously voted to send cases involving nine property owners on Ellis Boulevard NW to the Linn County Compensation Commission, which will decide the amount of money people are offered to relocate from their homes as the city looks to clear a path for the infrastructure project.

Council members Ann Poe and Ashley Vanorny were absent. The items related to the flood control acquisitions were on the consent agenda, where the council publicly votes on several items bundled into one vote without further discussion.

The homes referred to the commission are located at 1701, 1841, 1845, 1851, 1855, 1861, 1865, 1867, and 1925 Ellis Blvd. NW.

The city is designing a segment of flood control levee from Ellis Boulevard NW to O Avenue NW, but some homes are located where the levee is planned.

Other projects in the area also are in the design phase for the overall $750 million system, including the Time Check levee tie-off at Ellis Lane NW, and the O Avenue NW elevation over the levee.

When the city is at an impasse in negotiations or if property owners are not communicating with city officials, the city initiates the eminent domain proceedings to protect the project’s bid date. The condemnation hearings with the compensation commission are the first step.

Resident Mark Roskopf, one of the property owners referred to the compensation panel, asked the council to oppose this eminent domain action.

“The residents on Ellis Boulevard have been and want to be good neighbors,” Roskopf said. “If you want to be good neighbors in Cedar Rapids, you shouldn’t vote to forcefully take these properties.”

These property owners had the opportunity to do voluntary acquisitions through the program put in place after the 2008 flood. The city acquired more than 1,300 properties through the program that closed in 2017.

Real Estate Services Manager Rita Rasmussen said 66 properties needed to be acquired after the voluntary acquisition program closed. Of those, 43 properties have been acquired: two in the New Bohemia District, 17 in Czech Village and 24 in Time Check/the Northwest Neighborhood.

There are three signed purchase agreements that are pending closing in the next few months and 20 properties outstanding, Rasmussen said, so 70 percent of the needed properties have been acquired.

The city makes acquisition offers based on the current appraised fair market value, not assessed value. Officials are available to negotiate until the condemnation hearings.

Either party may appeal the compensation commission’s decision — if negotiations head to that process. One property owner, Matt Robinette, has gone through a condemnation hearing. He was awarded $155,000 and filed an appeal against the city in court. His attorney argued in court records that the award does not reflect the damages sustained.

According to the city, if council didn’t refer these items to the compensation commission to obtain the required total acquisition, officials would need to adjust the flood control system master plan.

Over the last several months, resident Ajai Dittmar said, she’s lost sleep and struggled to eat as she frets over when officials will try to take her home. Her property was not on Tuesday’s agenda, but she has been among several residents who routinely come to recent council meetings to press elected officials on the flood control acquisitions.

Dittmar suggested the council reconfigure the flood control system or keep using HESCO barriers — temporary equipment that can be moved into place when needed — to block rising Cedar River waters.

“We’re adults here,” Dittmar said. “We know how to take care of ourselves. There’s a reason we live on the river. We love it there.”

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