St. Clair County tangles with landowners over widening Frank Scott Parkway
“St. Clair County is continuing its two-year fight to use eminent domain to take land needed to improve a busy intersection at Frank Scott Parkway East and Old Collinsville Road in Swansea.
The fight pits the county against homeowners Ken and Sheila Cope who own a two-story, mason home on the disputed property southwest of the intersection.
The county hopes to ease congestion by adding lanes at the intersection. To do so, county officials need to purchase about 0.04 acres and acquire a three-year easement on an additional 0.05 acres of the property’s total 3.8 acres.
The Copes believe the county should reimburse them for an anticipated loss of value to their home in addition to purchasing ground required to add lanes to the intersection, according to court documents. County assessors value the Copes’ property at $440,200, according to tax records.
Ken Cope said the attempted land grab has been an “extremely difficult situation for me. I’m burnt up over it.”
“There’s a whole lot more to it than that (case) but I hate to say anything to anybody about it because of the litigation involved,” Cope said.”
Kelley, Daniel. BDN.com 26 July 2014.