Lower Merion responds to property owners in Villanova eminent domain fight
“The legal battle between the Lower Merion School District and homeowners over land in Villanova continued this week as the district made its case for taking the property through eminent domain.
Lawyers for the Lower Merion School District Tuesday filed their response to the preliminary objection raised by the property owners of one of the two sites the district invoked eminent domain on late last year.
In a bid to acquire space for playing fields for its planned new middle school in Villanova, the Lower Merion School District in December voted to condemn the two properties for field space. The new school is to be built at 1860 Montgomery Ave., and the two properties the district is taking are at 1835 County Line Road and 1600 Montgomery Ave.
In February, an attorney for John Bennett and Nance Di Rocco, owners of the property at 1835 County Line Road, filed their preliminary objections to the district’s use of eminent domain on their property.
The district’s filings contain similar arguments to those it made last month shortly after the property owners filed their objections to the district’s use of eminent domain.
Among the district’s counter objections is a response to the property owner’s suggestion that Lower Merion’s use of eminent domain is excessive or unnecessary and an abuse of the condemnation process. They also argued that the district only needed 5.6 acres rather than the 10-plus acres of their property.”
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Ilgenfritz, Richard. Main Line TImes 6 March 2019.