The City of St. Augustine filed a 30-page eminent domain lawsuit against two properties whose owners refuse to turn over their private properties.
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The suit was formally filed on June 16.
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It alleges the city has made good faith efforts to obtain easements from the homeowners, rights that the city said it needs to construct a flood wall.
The wall is part of the Lake Maria Sanchez Flood Mitigation and Drainage Improvement Project and would run through the backyard of the homeowners.
“Coastal flooding is probably the hardest to tackle for most communities, so this flood wall is going to help keep the physical water out of some of the low areas within the city,” Jessica Beach said.
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Beach is the city’s Chief Resilience Officer, spearheading the flood mitigation project.
Engineers like Beach have plans for major infrastructure upgrades to reduce coastal flooding.
The construction of a flood wall is part of that plan, but because the city still lacks access to land needed for the flood wall, the project is on hold.
“Just to be clear, the city has done appraisals. We’ve made offers to property owners; there’s money involved with this. We’ve made that very clear, and that’s been part of the public record, but this is like formally allowing the city to secure the easement that we need,” Beach said.
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Action News Jax went to the home of one of the people named in the lawsuit, but no one came to the door.
“This is a public benefit for the community and so if we’re not getting willing participation on it, this is a legal mechanism that we can go through the process,” Beach said.
According to the lawsuit, the city is now pursuing a quick-take action to gain immediate access to the property.
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