JURY AWARDS BIG MONEY

Kate Whitby is all over developments affecting construction, real estate and environmental matters for me...she has pointed out this condemnation case and the reason it is significant it that most people feel they have to take whatever a governmental entity claims is relevant for their property when a street, highway or other governmental acquisition is mandated....for years I have been told by attorneys just to seek a settlement and not fight...but this case has got me rethinking matters. Please read:

"It was a big fight over a small plot. And a St. Louis County court
decided Wednesday that the Missouri Department of Transportation was not paying
nearly enough to take it.

So the owners of a service station in Ballwin, who refused the $53,000 offered
by the state and appealed the $227,586 later awarded by a panel of condemnation
commissioners, got a jury to sweeten the deal to $545,000.

The owners had asked for $800,000.

The tract at issue is only 2,178 square feet, about the footprint of a modern
ranch-style house, not counting a yard. It is about 1/14 of the lot on which
the station sits.

MoDOT said it was needed for improvements at the corner of Clayton and Kehr's
Mill roads.

Robert and Carol Ceruti said it was needed to keep them in business. They said
daily gasoline sales fell by more than three-fourths after they lost it.

The couple operated the business as a Shell station starting in 1969,
eventually buying it with a long-term mortgage from Shell for $500,000 and
adding $100,000 worth of improvements. They later switched brands, to Citgo.

MoDOT condemned the small piece in 2005 and got a construction easement on
about one-third of the whole 30,843 square-foot property.

Jerome and Stanley Wallach, attorneys for the Cerutis, argued that:

— Construction greatly interfered with customer access.

— Citgo refused to advance credit for its products because of the problems, and
the Cerutis switched to a no-name brand.

— Sales of fuel dropped from 2,600 gallons a day to 600 while construction was
in its infancy, with two to three years to go.

Stanley Wallach said an appraiser placed the commercial value of the property
at zero, because the construction would indefinitely put off any buyers if the
Cerutis were to try to sell it.

State lawyers argued for a payment of less than $200,000, based on their
expert's testimony about the sales of comparably sized commercial properties in
the area.

Judge Colleen Dolan instructed jurors to base their award on the difference in
the fair market value of the entire property before and after the condemnation.

"The Cerutis are pleased that the jury saw what had happened here,'' Jerome
Wallach said later Wednesday, saying the situation was slowly putting his
clients out of business."

Thanks Kate....call her at 1-314-863-7733 with any questions you might have.....or make sure you hire her when the government comes calling!

Stormwater Management Permits...IMPORTANT NOTICE

From Kate Whitby of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP:

"Missouri is in the process of reissuing its general land disturbance stormwater management permits.  These are general permits for land disturbance (clearing, grading, grubbing, excavating, and anything else that results in "destruction of the root zone"), and apply to all projects which are more than an acre in size and which are developed as "part of a common plan or sale." 

Different permit requirements and expiration dates apply depending on who is doing the development and where the development is located.  Each permit runs for five years.  In order to receive the regulatory protection of a general permit, a developer must submit a request to Missouri DNR to be covered by the permit along with a site-specific "storm water pollution prevention plan" and a $300 permit fee. 

The four general permits cover:

1.  a construction project by a city or county and located in a city or county with an MDNR-approved storm water control program (permit expires May 30, 2007),

and private, non-governmental companies who are developing projects

2.  in a city or county with an MDNR-approved storm water control program (permit expires April 25, 2007), or

3.  not in such a city or county but near "valuable resources waters of the state" (permit expires March 7, 2007), or

4.  everywhere else in Missouri (permit expires February 7, 2007) .

The public comment period for the "everywhere else" draft permit (category No. 4 above) closed January 26, 2007. MDNR currently is accepting comments on the draft permit for category No. 3, above, and will take comments postmarked through February 13, 2007.   Draft permits for category Nos. 2 and 1 should be released for public comment in the next few weeks."

If you are interested in this important issue...and if you are a contractor you should be....please contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources immediately!

Title company fraud

Did any of you see the report out of St. Louis of the fraud committed by title company executives in that city? So Dave, why is this an issue? Well, how many times have you relied upon a title company to make sure the construction disbursements have been correctly handled? Mike Forster of our St. Louis points out the presumption of honesty no longer exist.s..and often banks rely upon the title company's handling of the disbursement of money...in all instances?

What to do....? Has anyone been burned by a title company?

Real estate brokers lien

Another new law change...real estate brokers now have liens in Kansas as of July 1 on real estate containing more than four residential units. Once a buyer is obtained who is RWA (willing and able) and the agent files a notice of lien prior to conveyance, a lien will exist. A lien can be obtained upon a lease transaction if the lien is filed within 90 days of the lessee taking possession.

Missouri has real estate brokers lien statute already.....(it is near your mechanic's lien statute in your frozen food section of your Missouri statutes...sorry, had to add a little humor).