By Jack Brammer
NKyTribune reporter
In a legal victory for the city of Cold Spring, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has stopped the transfer of the former Disabled American Veterans property on U.S. 27 and Industrial Road to the Campbell County School District.
The property has been called the top development site in Campbell County. City officials have been trying to locate a healthcare facility on it. The school district wants it for a second middle school.
In a 2-1 ruling Dec. 16, the state appellate court reversed a Campbell Circuit Court’s decision that the school board had the right to use eminent domain to acquire the property.
The appellate court, in a 16-page ruling, basically said the board could not use eminent domain – the right of a government to take over private property for public use with general compensation — to acquire public property.
The DAV building is considered public property.
The school board had bid on the site before the city of Cold Spring, but DAV rejected the school board’s bid that was between $4 million and $5 million. After that, the board decided to use eminent domain to get the property.
The board took over the property last December and submitted the recommended value of $5.5 million to the courts. The city appealed in early March.
Cold Spring Mayor Angelo Penque said in a release that the city “appreciates and embraces the Kentucky Court of Appeals order in the DAV property case.
“We were confident all along that the city was within its legal rights to own and ultimately develop the property with a project that will serve the entire Northern Kentucky population.
“Moving forward, the city remains committed to working with developers and prospective tenants and users on a project that our city will be proud to call its own. We also pledge to work with the Campbell County Board of Education in its quest to find and secure a location for a new school building.”
Dan Ruh, a representative of the city’s developer, Al.-Neyer, said, “We felt all along that the Campbell County Board of Education’s actions in taking the DAV property was an inappropriate and illegal use of Kentucky’s eminent domain statue, and we have been fully vindicated by the ruling from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
“Al. Neyer still firmly believes in the tremendous possibilities at the DAV site – one the most desirable pieces of property in Greater Cincinnati and the top development site in Campbell County – and we plan to continue working closely with the city of Cold Spring as we explore opportunities to develop the site to its fullest potential.”
The school board has the right to try to appeal the appellate court’s decision to the Kentucky Supreme Court, the state’s highest court.