The local government wants to by my land/easement

[John McKee]

I have a property in which the local town needs 1,300 square feet of land to widen the road.  In concept I'm okay with it, but the project doesn't provide any real value to my property either.  In addition to this permanent easement, they want a temporary easement of 1,600 square feet to store their equipment do some curb work etc.  The existing tenant says they won't be affected, but in reality one of their entrances will be blocked for 6 months.  It's not a main entrance per say but an entrance none the less.  The tenant is a standalone AT&T store so they are not solely dependent on ease of access like a QSR.  There will be one parking spot taken up with the temporarily easement as well.  Other than looking at the tax valuation to figure out a good number to propose on this buyout of my land what else can you recommend asking for.    

[Barry Ruby]

@John McKee

John, values can be negotiated but it’s wise to have a formal appraisal done

Parties often don’t agree on appraised value. Rather than go to war with costly litigation, consider an alternative that goes like this:

The parties agree to accept appraised value as the valuation method

The parties agree to who selects the appraiser and agree to split final appraisal costs

The first appraisal comes in at a value that is acceptable to the first party but doesn’t meet the approval of the second party

The second party chooses its appraiser and the parties still don’t agree on value

The parties agree at the outset that if neither parties appraised values are acceptable to them, the first two appraisers select a third appraiser and agree at the outset that the valuation of the third appraiser is final

Basically this approach to setting value has been called “my appraiser, your appraiser,

Their appraiser

Best of luck sorting this out