When new roads are built and old ones are widened, something - or someone - has to give.
Usually property owners feel they're the ones giving and the government is the one taking.In that sense, the reconstruction of I-15 in Salt Lake County is no different from any other road-improvement project along the Wasatch Front. Property will be purchased, or condemned and taken, and both homeowners and business people will be left feeling shortchanged.
"I hate this. I've been upset about it for quite a while now," said Arnold Evans, who is going to court after turning down the Utah Department of Transportation's offer for business property he owns near the 5300 South in-ter-change.
"What I have to do is find (and buy) another building to rent out. That is my retirement. I can't find another building for what they've offered me - not even close."
Evans owns one of 33 businesses that will be relocated because of the $1.59 billion reconstruction of I-15 between 600 North in Salt Lake City and 10800 South in Sandy. Thirteen homeowners will have to find a new place to live. Some, certainly, will feel gypped.
"That's the way government works," said Grant Moulton, who may also be headed for court over what UDOT has offered for his mother's home near the 4500 South interchange. "They're trying to do it for the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers, not really understanding that as a landowner, we think there's a market value they're not considering."
After the Deseret News filed a request under the Government Records Access and Management Act, the Utah Department of Transportation released the names and addresses of the 46 property owners who will be relocated. Another business owner will have a sign relocated.
Some of the targeted residences are clustered near the 600 North viaduct and the downtown Salt Lake City junction of I-15 and I-80 West. A number of the businesses are located near the I-15 intersections with I-80 East and 2100 South, and the downtown junction with I-80 West.
UDOT Executive Director Tom Warne says there are some things his department can't replace, such as notches on the door jamb in the pantry that chart the growth of a family's children.
But, Warne says, UDOT is doing its best to acquire the least amount of property necessary and is spending $50 million to give landowners a fair deal for the property it must have.
"We are required to pay appraised value. We help them relocate," Warne said. "The process is fair to the taxpayers as well as to the person who is being relocated."
Most homeowners accept the offer, Warne says. But the businesses tend to fight the system.
To date, 18 property owners have chosen to challenge UDOT's acquisition through the court system. Ultimately, the government and its eminent domain powers will prevail. Landowners who seek the legal route hope they will receive more for their property than UDOT's initial offer.
That's what Evans and Moulton are banking on.
Evans was offered $455,000 for his former business, a 5,500-square-foot building, and the nearly 1-acre parcel it sits on at 5303 S. Commerce St., Murray.
"But I've looked all over heck trying to find something (for that price), and I tell you it's tough," said Evans, 66, who spent his career selling sailboats from that site before retiring nine years ago.
Moulton is upset because UDOT offered $203,000 for his deceased mother's home - only $5.50 a square foot. But the site is prime commercial property, Moul-ton argues. He figures the offer should be more like $8 to $9 a square foot.
Other property owners haven't seen an offer yet but know the state needs their land.
"I know I'm going to have to move, so we're trying to make arrangements," said Daryl Hatch, owner of the Exhibition Center, 734 W. 800 South. "I'm really not sure what to expect. One thing that bothers me a lot is I'm losing this freeway sign that has great exposure.
"This kind of leaves me hanging because I know I can't wait forever. My impression is, we're not high on the list."
The I-15 reconstruction is a design-build project, a plan-as-you-go method that will allow the work to be completed in less than 41/2 years instead of seven years or more. That means the 187 parcels needed to widen the freeway are being acquired as work progresses. So far, only about 40 properties have been acquired, but the bulk of the needed land should be in the state's possession by this time next year.
During the recent Legislature, Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake, used the I-15 project as an opportunity to introduce a bill giving landowners more rights in the property-acquisition process. The bill, which Warne says would have cost the state thousands if not millions of dollars, was one of a handful vetoed by the governor.
Suazo's bill did, in part, prompt Warne to establish a new arbitration process "that will significantly alleviate the perception that we're trying to lower the appraised value," Warne said.
By comparison to other road projects, the amount of property being acquired for I-15 is relatively small. The $8 billion Central Artery Project in Boston had a property acquisition budget of $500 million.
Locally, construction of the Bangerter Highway from 12600 South to I-15 will force 28 families to relocate. And I-15 won't even require as many residential relocations as the widening of a one-mile stretch of 9000 South in Sandy. That project booted 30 homeowners, many of whom had lived on the north side of 9000 South for decades.
Bob Fox, chief of the UDOT Right-of-Way Division, says acquiring property along I-15 hasn't been "as emotional or traumatic" as getting land for the 9000 South widening.
"Luckily, there have not been many homeowners on I-15 at all. We've just had a few," he said.
He added that many homeowners and business owners who don't receive enough money to replace what they have can qualify for a federal subsidy.
Much of the land needed for the I-15 expansion is in the middle of the freeway where the road's original designers left it. New lanes will be built in the existing median. The bulk of the right of way is for relocating frontage roads and repositioning interchanges.
UDOT has been able to rework its project designs so that a number of businesses, including the Eagle Hardware and Garden at 4500 South, wouldn't have to relocate as originally planned. Others, such as Ryder Truck Rental and Leasing's administrative offices, the Se Rancho Motor Motel and South Salt Lake's animal control office, weren't so lucky. All three will be moved.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I-15 property relocations
Residences (13)
Businesses (33)
Residences:
Alldredge, Del., 295 W. 10600 South
Anderson, Marjean, 233 W. Andrew Lane
Barrus, Lorraine, 762 W. Pacific Ave.
Barrus, Lorraine, 756 W. Pacific Ave.
Cadena-Avila, Martin and Losano, Martha, 752 W. Pacific Ave.
Floisand, Steven K. and Floisand, Leslie P., 445 N. Cottonwood St.
Hatch, Charles, 431 W. 600 North
Jensen, Robert E. and Jensen, Brenda B., 459 N. Cottonwood St.
Jones, Judd, 232 W. Andrew Lane
Mewes, Elizabeth, 425 W. 600 North
Peterson, Carmella, 412 W. 9000 South
Swaydan, James and Josephine, 816 W. 200 South
Trujillo, Sela, 427 W. 600 North
Businesses:
Property owners
Allen, Farrell G. and Elizabeth M., 751 W. 400 South
A&M Enterprises, 585 N. 400 West
A.M. Evans Investment Co., 5303 S. Commerce Drive
ATEN, Inc. (Cytozyme), 134 S. 700 West
Cheri Investments (Gordon Crofts, et al), 5417 Commerce Drive
Cheri Investment, 727 W. Pacific Ave.
City Cab/Jackson, Arthur D. and Donald R., 710 W. 100 South
City of South Salt Lake, 2210 S. 900 West (rear)
Clines Auto Sales, Inc., 255 W. 4500 South
Day, Pamela, 216 W. 3300 South
Empack Printing Express/Don Lee Harward and Paula G. Purslow-Haward
Envirotech Corp. (EIMCO), 690 W. 400 South
Evans, Arnold M., Evans, Ada Morrison, Evans, Connie V., 5303 S. Commerce Drive
Geneva Rock Products Inc. 748 W. 200 South
G&M Properties, 441 W. 600 North
Hatch & Griffin Properties, 734 W. 800 South
H.O.H./Hoffine Press, 2280 S. 600 West
Judd Jones Refractory & Acid Specialities, 232 West Andrew Lane
Markosian Family Ltd. Patnership, Abraham and Arline B., 780 W. 400 South
Mewes, Elizabeth, 425 W. 600 North
Pappas, George and Day, Pamela, 256 W. 3300 South
Pyle, Val R. and Pyle, Lavone (Peggy), 861-895 W. 2100 South
Ryder Truck Rental Inc., 830 W. Davis Road
Sandleman, Jeffrey, et al, 2265 S. 800 West
Sheth, Suresh B. and Sheth, Gunvanti S., 640 W. North Temple
Sol-Art Thermal Applicators, 351-53 W. 400 South
Tweedy, Joseph H. and Tweedy, Sandra S., 355-385 W. 9000 South
Unisource Realty Inc., 1000 S. 500 West
VIP Properties, 343 W. 400 South
Wesco Leasing, 321 W. 400 South
Wesco Leasing, 315 W. 400 South
West One Trust Co. Trustee for Susan A. Eliason Trust, 7304 S. Cottonwood St.
Westco Products Inc., 450 W. 1700 South