In this 2007 condemnation action, the NCDOT did not take any land from the property owner.  Instead, the taking consisted of four (4) contract access points along a Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway in Wilmington, North Carolina.  The NCDOT’s initial deposit of $2,375,200 was subsequently increased by $2,298,947 for total deposit of $4,674,147.  Two weeks prior to trial, the NCDOT attempted to “untake” the taking, which was denied by the judge.  Working with her North Carolina eminent domain co-counsel, Ms. Haywood obtained a jury verdict of $16,000,000 plus $86,304 for breach of contract.  Expert witness fees and interest totaled $2,266,683.15 for a total payment of $18,352,987.15.

This condemnation by the NCDOT involved the closing and/or change in grade to access points for this Durham convenience store.  After the taking the C-Store and gas pumps remained but the impact to the site was significant.  NCDOT deposited $14,959.  Ms. Haywood together with her co-counsel obtained a jury verdict of $995,000.  The NCDOT appealed and the case settled at the Court of Appeals level for $950,000.

In 2006, the Moore County Airport Authority (MCAA) acquired land from a family limited partnership in Moore County, North Carolina for a public roadway right-of-way to relocate a portion of NC Highway 22 and State Road 1843.  Emmett Boney Haywood represented the family limited partnership in the North Carolina condemnation action brought by MCAA.   The MCAA’s initial deposit was $455,050.00 for 82.5 acres.  Mrs. Haywood negotiated a settlement for $705,000.00, $249,950.00 more than the initial deposit, plus the re-conveyance of 10.7 acres, which MCAA had claimed as an uneconomic remnant.

In 2006, Wake County condemned the entire property owned by Defendant for a public off-street parking facility.  The County’s highest offer was $415,000 for the property.  With the assistance of Raleigh Eminent Domain Law Firm Emmett Boney Haywood, a jury verdict was issued in the amount of $625,000 plus interest and costs.

This inverse condemnation case involved the siltation of a pond located in eastern Wake County.  The NCDOT had taken a portion of the tract for the construction of the new I-540 Eastern Wake Expressway.  Ineffective storm drainage measures caused the siltation of the pond.  NCDOT and the contractor settled the inverse claim for a total of $150,000.

This case involved a partial taking for the Evans Road Widening Project in Cary, North Carolina.  The homeowner’s property was located on Evans Road, a two-lane road.  The Town of Cary took the owner’s front yard to construct a new four-lane, main roadway.  The municipality’s initial offer for this taking was $19,005.00.  Working with co-counsel, we negotiated an additional $53,495.00 settlement with severance damages resulting in a total settlement of $72,500.00.

The NCDOT sought to acquire a .56 acre portion of a 1.13 acre residential tract for right of way purposes, with an initial offer of $126,000, which included the taking of the property’s septic system.  There were no remaining suitable soils to support a traditional septic system.  As a result the North Carolina property owners would have been required to install an expensive nontraditional septic system on the remaining .57 acre tract.   A negotiated settlement was reached by which the NCDOT agreed to purchase the entire property for $284,800 in addition to paying moving and other relocation benefits.

In 2008, Carolina Power & Light Company (doing business as Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc.) filed a condemnation action against a real estate development company to install an electrical substation on the company’s property near the downtown Raleigh area.  The initial deposit was in the amount of $3,553,085.  Together with co-counsel, Ms. Haywood negotiated an out-of-court settlement in the amount of $4,350,000.  In some cases, the power of eminent domain extends to private utility takings in North Carolina.

NCDOT took a portion of this convenience store property for a road widening project in Lee County, North Carolina.  The government’s initial offer for the property taken by eminent domain was $3,120.00.  During pre-trial hearings, the court  ruled that the NCDOT could not establish the existence of some of its claimed existing right-of-way. The case proceeded through trial with the jury returning a verdict of $126,081.47 plus interest and costs.

This case involved appraisal, wetlands, and other land use issues.  Raleigh North Carolina Eminent Domain Attorney, Emmett Boney Haywood, represented the property owners in the NCDOT’s taking of a portion of the property for the construction of the Wake Forest (NC 98) Bypass.  The initial offer by the NCDOT was $409,785.00.  The project split the property and limited access to the remainder.  The jury delivered a verdict of $1,883,805.00.