NEW ALBANY —
Two property owners have appealed a court ruling that would allow the New Albany-Floyd County Parks Department to take part of their land for an access road to a nature reserve.
Floyd County residents David Lind and Ed Deters have protested the department’s decision to build Woodlands Park off Budd Road because of safety concerns.
They have maintained the current access road to the park land is too narrow and windy to ensure emergency vehicles can reach the property if needed.
Each live near the proposed park and the department needs portions of their land to control the access road. As designed, it will include a pedestrian lane which will make it more dangerous for walkers in case a vehicle is driving on the road, Deters and Lind have argued.
As planned, people would park in a lot near the access road and walk back to Woodlands Park.
“Bottom line is, it’s an unsafe road,” Lind said.
He added there are flooding issues that impact the access road and parking lot.
But Floyd County Circuit Court Judge Terrence Cody ruled differently, and ordered the appointment of two appraisers to determine a price the NAFC Parks Board should pay Deters and Lind for their land.
Other land is needed for the access road, but so far Lind and Deters are the only property owners still fighting the decision.
Last week, they appealed the eminent domain ruling, and it will now likely be weighed by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
While the board’s attorney, Rick Fox, believes the appeal ruling will come by the end of the year, he said the department is moving ahead with the eminent domain process.
Unless a judge orders otherwise, Fox said state statute allows the department to go forward with paying the court the value for the land as determined by the two appraisers.
The properties would then be under control of the parks department, Fox said.
“That’s how we’re going to proceed,” Fox said.
He added he wasn’t surprised by the appeal. John Kraft, the lawyer representing Lind and Deters, had stated he would appeal the decision after Cody’s ruling, Fox said.
“I’m surprised that the homeowners are spending the money to do this stuff,” Fox said. “I can’t imagine why.”
The eminent domain appraisals are due to the court by April 23, and Fox doesn’t anticipate much action until they are completed.
Lind said they will continue to fight the department’s action because they feel eminent domain was not properly used.
“I can understand the power of eminent domain if its [for something] hundreds or thousands of people depend on,” Lind said. “But this is a total abuse of eminent domain, I believe.”
The main funding for Woodlands Park is coming through a $250,000 grant from the Indiana Land and Water Conservation Department. The state had extended a deadline for using the money before, and Fox said it has agreed to do so again.
The parks board will have until the end of the year to use the funds for Woodlands Park, Fox said.
Lind feels like the board is pushing the park through just to use the grant, and they are wasting money on legal fees in the process.
“To be continuing with this is just ludicrous for the taxpayers,” he said.
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