$7.5 Million Land Verdict Against Montco Town Prompts Response

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, PA — Local officials in this Montgomery County community are speaking out after coming out on the losing end of a multi-million-dollar verdict secured by a family that was embroiled in a decade-plus long eminent domain dispute with the municipality.

The Montgomery Township Board of Supervisors released a statement on Tuesday regarding the $7.5 million verdict recently awarded by a jury to the Zehr Family Limited Partnership over the township's decision to take via eminent domain 51 acres of family land in the fall of 2010.

During a recent civil trial in Common Pleas Court, jurors determined that the township did not properly compensate the plaintiffs during eminent domain proceedings, and that the family was owed money.

The jury ended up awarding $5.85 million but plaintiffs' attorneys said the figure would swell to more than $7.5 after the application of statutory interest.

Related: $5.85 Million Verdict For Montco Family In Eminent Domain Case

On Tuesday, local officials released a statement saying that during the course of the litigation officials had attempted to settle the matter but were unable to arrive an amount that was agreeable to both parties.

"The Board of Supervisors believes this 51+ acres parcel is an integral part of the Township's efforts to preserve land for both passive/active recreational use and open space in keeping with our Comprehensive Plan and our residents' comments about both," the supervisors said in their statement.

The case dated all the way back to October 2010, when the township adopted a resolution approving the acquisition of two parcels of land comprising more than 51 acres through eminent domain procedures.

The properties, owned by the Zehr family, are located along Stump Road next to Montgomery Township's largest park.

At the time, the township said it was looking to save the land from residential development, help stem the potential for increased vehicle traffic and congestion and incorporate the land into the township's local park system.

The township paid the Zehr family just over $1.53 million for the acquisition in December 2014, but the property valuation was subsequently disputed by the family, which eventually sued the local government.

In its statement this week, Montgomery Township says that its valuation reflected costs to remediate significant soil contamination on the property that reportedly resulted from a chain link fence manufacturing business that had been located on the site in the past.

Testing by an environmental consultant revealed high levels of a known carcinogen, the statement says, and the township was looking at having to spend possibly more than $2 million to remediate the property before it could be converted for public use.

The Zehr family, however, disputed the amount of compensation being offered by the township.

Initially, a board of viewers agreed with the township's assessment, factoring in the need to remediate the property, but the family appealed to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, and they were ultimately successful more than 10 years later.

Because of the years-long legal dispute, the township never began making any improvements to the property.

Officials say now that the litigation is resolved, it will begin the process of demolishing several buildings on the site that are reportedly in a state of disrepair.

The township says it will also now be moving forward with necessary environmental cleanup required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to help make the site safe for public use.

The board said it would have no further comment about the litigation, and considers the matter resolved.