Woman wants land seized for Alice’s Road project back
“West Des Moines used eminent domain nearly five years ago in an effort to save several thousand dollars on a road project.
Since then, the city has spent more than $500,000 to settle a lawsuit with a feisty resident who continues to battle it over the property that sits next to a future Interstate Highway 80 interchange.
“I want my land back and I don’t want to pay one dime for it,” said Linda Robel, 84, of West Des Moines.
The city in 2009 used eminent domain — the government’s way to take private property for public use — to obtain 6.2 acres from Robel for $204,000. Officials used dirt from the tract to build a nearby bridge over I-80 to connect Alice’s Road in Waukee and 105th Street in West Des Moines.
The city leveled a barn, relocated a mobile trailer, filled in two wells and tore down fences to access the soil, Robel said. She filed a lawsuit against the city and was awarded $527,500 in 2010.
West Des Moines no longer needs the gutted 6.2 acres and is offering to sell it back to Robel. But first the land’s value must be reassessed, taking into account what it could likely be used for now that the overpass is complete and construction of the interchange approved. City officials plan for the area to become a commercial corridor.”
Meinch, Timothy. Press Citizen 15 November 2013.