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Friday, June 26, 2009
DOT Sues Speaker for Right of Way
By Colleen Heild
Journal Staff Writer
New Mexico state government has filed suit in state District Court in Santa Fe to condemn property of House Speaker Ben Lujan and an Española businessman for right of way needed in the reconstruction of a segment of U.S. 84/285.
Neither Lujan nor El Paragua Restaurant owner Luis Atencio had agreed to sell the land for the price the state was willing to pay during months of negotiations.
The lawsuits filed by the Department of Transportation said the state offered to pay Lujan $59,990 for six parcels that total about four-tenths of an acre. That property is adjacent to the state highway, about six miles south of Española.
Atencio was offered $88,800 for 0.3477 of an acre needed for the reconstruction of La Puebla Road and U.S. 84/285.
Atencio contacted Lujan after the DOT approached him about buying his land, the Journal has previously reported. At a subsequent meeting in Lujan's office, DOT officials agreed to redesign part of the project to lessen the amount of Atencio's land needed for the project by half.
When Atencio didn't like the initial appraisal amount, DOT officials took the unusual step of paying for a second appraisal, DOT records show.
The property the state wants from Lujan, D-Santa Fe, includes the site of a commercial billboard the DOT says must be torn down. That billboard, which Lujan leases out, was found to lack a proper permit, so he won't be reimbursed for the lost income.
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