DURHAM --
The owner of a gas station won a land dispute with the state Transportation Department this week when a jury awarded $995,000 -- 66 times what the state was offering.
Attorneys for Holmes Oil Co., which owns an Exxon station at the corner of N.C. 55 and N.C. 54, argued that when the state Department of Transportation took more than 3,500 square feet for road work, the gas station would be virtually inaccessible to customers.
"They've taken a convenience store and made it inconvenient," said Emmett Haywood, a Raleigh lawyer who represented Holmes Oil along with Durham lawyer Jay Ferguson. "The DOT wants to put on blinders and say they're just paying for what they're taking and not the damages they're causing."
When condemnation cases can't be resolved, the Transportation Department is required to put up a deposit of what its experts think the property in question is worth. In this case, the department's deposit was $14,959.
Tough negotiating tactics in Durham have been rough on the Transportation Department in recent years. In condemnation disputes, the government takes property for a public purpose and has to pay the owner a fair price. In negotiations over property along Interstate 85, the department has lost big awards in court. In 2004, a jury awarded the owner of a motel $2.5 million after it had offered $291,000. In 2003, a jury awarded $1.7 million, including interest, to the owners of the closed Pan Pan Diner. The state had offered $427,000.
In at least six other cases along Interstate 85, the state ended up paying much more than it originally offered.
"We're reviewing the verdict and considering options, which include a possible appeal," said Ernie Seneca, a Transportation Department spokesman.
Haywood said the Chapel Hill-based Holmes Oil Co. operates 19 convenience stores and has 160 employees.
The Transportation Department is adding lanes to the road, Holmes' attorneys said. The department took 564 square feet for a slope easement and 2,988 square feet for a temporary construction easement. The department also is going to close the main driveway to the store and increase the slope on the remaining driveway.
