PROVO — Provo has filed a motion in 4th District Court asking a judge to grant it immediate possession of a hotel that stands in the way of the city's planned new performing arts center.
The City Council authorized the use of eminent domain to take the property in December, but Mayor Lewis Billings promised not to exercise the power until the city exchanged additional appraisals with owner Bob Patel for the Travelers Inn at 469 W. Center.
Patel has decided he doesn't want to give up the hotel for the city's cash offer of $850,000, a price set by two appraisers hired by the city. Patel hired two different appraisers who valued the property at more than $1.2 million.
The city has also offered to buy another downtown hotel appraised at $875,000 and trade it to Patel, but he has refused.
"If I have to go and fight for the value in court, I'm going to fight for the whole . . . thing," he said. "If you're in my shoes, what would you do? If you had an appraisal for $1.29 million and were offered $850,000, would you take the $850,000 or would you fight for the $1.29 million?"
The disparity in the appraisals surprised City Council members, who learned of the second appraisals on each side during a meeting Tuesday.
"Is that normal?" councilwoman Cindy Richards asked.
"I don't know that it's normal," Billings said. "The four appraisals differ." Later he added, "Our intent is that the taxpayers not be asked to pay an unreasonable sum for a project that's important to the city."
A judge or jury will determine the final price of Patel's hotel if the two sides can't reach a settlement. Utah law allows cities to ask for immediate occupancy while a court case proceeds on the issue of compensation.
If a judge grants Provo's motion for immediate occupancy, the ruling would clear the way for the city to take the property, tear down the hotel and begin serious construction of the $7 million performing arts center. Initial plans called for the performing arts center to replace the former city library at about 450 W. Center, and workers began gutting the building in December, but architects determined more than a year ago that additional land to the west was needed to complete the project.
The city will begin paying penalties to the general contractor if construction can't begin in earnest by the end of March, Billings told the City Council on Tuesday.
"They don't want to pay my price but they are ready to pay the construction people whatever is the penalty," Patel said. "They're going to end up paying more."
Provo is still trying to raise the final $1.5 million it needs to pay for the performing arts center. A creative mix of funding sources has raised most of the project's cost without the use of any tax funds.
Provo's court filings were served on Patel on March 2, which gives him until March 22 to respond, said Dayle Jeffs, an attorney representing Patel. At an evidentiary hearing on the motion, Jeffs said Provo would have to call witnesses who could show the city has a right to condemn, that this condemnation is necessary and that the project is for public use. The city must also prove the need for immediate occupancy.
Jeffs is studying whether it is legal for a city to condemn private property for a performing arts center.
Provo's motion anticipated the question. "Although the statute does not specifically mention a performing arts center, it does (say) . . . that cities are authorized to condemn for a long list of specific items and then it states that condemnation is authorized for 'all other public uses for the benefit of any . . . city . . . or the inhabitants thereof.' Cultural facilities are clearly contemplated within these other public uses."
Jeffs represents another Provo resident fighting city hall over eminent domain. The Utah Supreme Court ruled for Newell Johnson when Jeffs argued Provo couldn't condemn his land to build a road connecting Canyon Road and 4800 North at University Avenue because Johnson's property is technically not in Provo — it is part of a 26-acre unincorporated island governed by Utah County.
The county signed an agreement with the city to condemn the property for the city, but Jeffs has asked the state supreme court to throw out the agreement.
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com