City of Columbia taxpayer being harrassed by City of Columbia for right of way/easement on private property.
A local citizen of Columbia looked for 3 years & finally bought property in a quiet subdivision & built a house on it. This land was chosen because it offered beautiful large old trees & magnolias, was in a great neighborhood & one of a few that was on the DART Van route for their mentally handicapped daughter. Now 4 years after buying this property the City of Columbia has sent a letter stating they would pay $160 for right of way/easement or send it to City Council for condemnation of the property. This easement the City wants is to install a drainage pipe in the creek which is 7 ft wide, and runs the full length of the property. They want 27 ft. wide by 144 ft long for the pipe to be installed. The City plans on cutting 27 extremely large hardwood trees & 14 magnolias & other shrubery down, store heavy equipment & use this area for the equipment to run up and down on. Problems: 1) equipment could cause foundation problems on home 2) all trees & shrubs will be cut down & not replaced 3) all bedrooms of house are located within 15 ft of the easement, so close that noise & damage will become a big problem. 4) there will be no barrier between the home & the neighbor beside it. So what are the rights of homeowners? What is a fair & reasonable offer for property being destroyed?