701 Main St., Stroudsburg, owners object to judge’s ruling in Monroe’s favor for condemnation
“The owners of 701 Main St., Stroudsburg, have appealed a judge’s decision in which he rejected objections to Monroe County taking the commercial building by eminent domain.
Grist Mill Development Co., which bought the property in January, didn’t cite any reasons in its initial objection with the Monroe County courts. But it unloaded the kitchen sink in a subsequent filing last week.
Gregory Chelak, a Pike County judge overseeing the Monroe County case, earlier rejected Grist Mill’s claims. Among them: The taking was not in the best interests of Monroe County and that it wasn’t the only office space that could have satisfied the county’s needs.
Two of three Monroe County commissioners voted to take the building, on the corner of Main and Seventh streets in downtown Stroudsburg, as part of its efforts to alleviate overcrowding in the county courthouse.
Grist scooped the property up as the county, hoping to buy the building, awaited an appraisal of the property.
The appeal is just another step in the long process of the county’s condemnation of the property for local government usage. The county initially asserted its eminent domain rights on May 1, less than four months after Grist bought the building for commercial leasing.”
Frank, Howard. Pocono Record 12 November 2013.