Allentown business owner claims city lowballed her in eminent domain case because she’s a woman
“The president of a Lehigh County company claims Allentown has not given her fair market value for a number of city properties slated for eminent domain for the American Parkway expansion project because of her gender.
Lehigh Valley Properties owner and President Laurie Atiyeh is suing the city, Mayor Ed Pawlowski and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for more than $1 million for sexual discrimination in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
A message left with the city’s solicitor’s office was not immediately returned.
Lehigh Valley Properties handles aggregate disposal and sales — hauling things like concrete from road projects, crushing it and then selling it to contractors as aggregate, said Atiyeh’s attorney Everett Cook.
The business has an office listed in Whitehall Township but operates at 901-933 N. Ivy St. in Allentown, which in August 2011 the city approved taking by eminent domain for the expansion of American Parkway.
The expansion, which is currently underway, includes building a bridge from Front Street on the west side of the Lehigh River to Dauphin Street on the east side of the Lehigh River.
The city offered $100,400 for the LVP properties on North Ivy Street, which total more than 1.5 acres, according to court papers.
In the lawsuit, Atiyeh claims she and LVP began contacting the city in March 2011 by email and phone about the American Parkway extension and reaching an agreement on the properties, but didn’t receive a response.”
Cassel, Sarah. Lehigh Valley Live 8 July 2014,