South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

City pays $298,000 for land, home on Green Park Road

Green Park aldermen recently voted to pay a resident more than double the county-appraised value of his home.

The Board of Aldermen voted to adopt a resolution allowing the city to purchase the final property needed to begin widening Green Park Road. The city will pay Daniel Lanham $298,000 for his land and home at 9907 Green Park Road. This property was appraised at $118,500 for 2009, according to county records.

Lanham’s land was the third of three properties the city needed to purchase to begin the planned redevelopment of Green Park Road.

Earlier this year, the city paid Robert and Joan Cooper $165,000 for their property at 9925 Green Park Road.

Additionally, Meagan Kaiser received $200,000 for her land and home at 9915 Green Park Road.

County records listed the appraisal for the Coopers’ property at $138,300 and Kaiser’s property at $118,800.

Tim Graham of Graham Appraisal Co. appraised each home for Green Park. Graham’s appraisals were significantly higher than St. Louis County records, valuing Lanham’s property at $170,000, the Coopers’ at $152,000 and Kaiser’s at $150,000.

City officials hired Mark Payken of Payken Consulting to perform right-of-way acquisition and project management services for the Green Park Road project.

“Missouri state law provides for an additional 25 percent compensation for people who are prohibited from using their property as they’ve done previously,” Payken said. “Obviously, if they’re tearing your house down that would prevent you from doing that.”

Lanham received the appraised value of his home, the 25 percent homestead provision and initially qualified for a replacement housing payment. The replacement housing payment covers the difference between his home and a replacement currently available on the market. Payken said Lanham noted the city’s offer was greater than the amount the replacement housing payment was intended to cover. Therefore, Lanham did not receive the replacement housing payment.

“He has to move completely,” Payken said. “It’s wasn’t like he just gave an easement across the front of his house. I mean he had to go, take his kids and move. I think the city’s feeling was let’s go ahead and settle this thing and move on.

“You end up having to do things and pay for things that if you were just a regular citizen you wouldn’t have to do,” Payken said. “Because you’d go down the street and buy another house, and in this case I couldn’t do that. The city had to have Lanham’s house.”

Lanham’s land was needed for the construction of a right-of-way and to swap St. Louis County for an equal amount of ground that would be used to widen Green Park Road, Payken said.

The other two properties were needed for a right-turn lane at Tesson Ferry Road and Green Park Road to ease traffic through the intersection.

Mayor Tony Konopka said city officials hope to begin the construction in August.

The East-West Gateway Council of Governments in 2003 approved a federal grant funding 80 percent of Green Park Road’s original reconstruction cost of $2.4 million.

But the estimated cost to redevelop the road is expected to rise due to such factors as the city’s plans to construct a pedestrian pathway along the road’s north side instead of a sidewalk down the more residential south side and also because of estimated increases in construction costs over time.

Green Park Road’s first project phase will be along a 6,000-foot stretch from Tesson Ferry Road to Lin Valle Drive, according to preliminary plans.

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