Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:22PM
5:31PM ( 51 minutes ago ) News Alert

Gainesville City Council drops move to exercise power of eminent domain

GAINESVILLE – The City of Gainesville will not be exercising the power of eminent domain over the former site of Pepper’s Market at 628 E.E. Butler Parkway, that after a unanimous vote by the Gainesville City Council Tuesday evening.

Nearly a year ago property owner Rick Gailey of Clermont told AccessWDUN, “The city come and offered me $250,000.  I gave $500,000 twenty years ago…just paid it off two months ago…and I said, ‘Y’all are crazy.  I don’t want to sell it!’”

City Councilman Sam Couvillon said after the vote, “I don’t think anybody really wanted to condemn this property.  I’m thankful that we did not have to go that route.  In the end the winner is the City of Gainesville: we got rid of a dilapidated building on that piece of property and in the end it’s going to be redeveloped into something I think that our community will find as a positive.”

During the time since the city first approached Gailey about selling the property negotiations between the city and Gailey continued, and the item had to be repeatedly (nine times according to city documents) tabled by the city council pending those discussions.

“Negotiations have been ongoing for the whole time,” Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said.  “It was extremely complicated and it involved the Housing Authority…so we never backed off of this, it has been going the entire time.”

“We think this is a win-win for everyone.  The city has a property that’s been kind of the ‘sore-thumb’ for us; it’s gone now…and he (Gailey) gets to develop that site to a higher and better use,” Lackey added.

Gailey said in a telephone interview the following morning that he is satisfied with the details of the final agreement.  “We’re all on the same page and everything is good.”

Gailey added, “I think what happened, too, is a lot of tensions had built up over the last twelve or fifteen years, so we were able to work through that, and I think they had some concerns that I might not be moving forward.”

Gailey credited Couvillon for being instrumental in reaching an amicable conclusion.  “Sam Couvillon contacted me and sort of helped keep the ball rolling and we got it done from there.”

Gailey, a builder by profession, said he would be constructing a restaurant on the property.  He said because negotiations were still ongoing with that tenant he could not disclose its name.

In a second resolution related to the decision to end the move to exercising the power of eminent domain by the city, the city council passed a measure officially approving the final terms of agreement between the city, the Housing Authority and the property owner. 

According to the city that agreement contains specific time lines for each party and that compliance was already underway.

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