City asked to use eminent domain to aid Urgent Care
“The developer of a Columbus urgent care facility is asking the city to use its eminent domain powers to circumvent a decades-old covenant that’s preventing development at the 3323 23rd St. site.
Brad Felger, vice president and co-owner of Omaha-based Family Urgent Care, and his attorney Chris Blunk appeared before Columbus City Council Monday night in an attempt to convince the group to initiate an eminent domain proceeding to acquire the parking rights on the lot purchased by Family Urgent Care in November.
Family Urgent Care bought the property near the intersection of 33rd Avenue and 23rd Street for $144,141 and broke ground at the site in March with hopes of completing the 4,000-square-foot building by Aug. 1 of this year.
However, the nearly $1 million Family Urgent Care of Columbus project was immediately met with a civil lawsuit filed by the owners of Westgate Center Mall and the former Walgreens building, which sit just south of the proposed development site.
In the lawsuit filed March 23 in Platte County District Court, FICON Holdings LLC claims construction of the urgent care violates a 1984 restrictive covenant that reserves the undeveloped area within Westgate Center for parking and pedestrian access. This common area agreement, which was originally entered into by Hy-Vee, Walmart and One Eleven Corporation of Lincoln, an affiliate of Hub Hall Companies that owned the mall and former Walgreens at that time, requires the approval of all property owners before the site plan can be modified.”
Ellyson, Tyler. 21 August 2012.