Preserve case may go to state high court

A Scottsdale eminent domain case involving 50 acres for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve could be headed to the Arizona Supreme Court.

GRAPHIC: See a map of the property

The land, formerly owned by developers CGP-Aberdeen, is situated on Rio Verde Drive just south of The Golf Club Scottsdale, 29001 N. 122nd St. Earlier this month, the Arizona Court of Appeals dealt Scottsdale a setback in the case when it threw out a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling that set the date on which the land was to be appraised.

Bruce Washburn, assistant city attorney, said Scottsdale has until April 7 to file a petition for review with the state's highest court.

The City Council is slated to consider approving the action next Tuesday.

In the trial, the city argued that state law pegs the value of condemned land on the day of the initiation of condemnation proceedings. The land's value on that date, Jan. 13, 2003, was $4.88 million.

CGP-Aberdeen, on the other hand, argued that the land should be priced on the date the city actually took possession.

That didn't happen until 18 months later, on July 15, 2004. The developer's lawyer, Dale Zeitlin, has said the real estate market was booming at the time, and the land's value increased significantly in the interim.

The two sides had previously discussed settling the case. The proposed settlement would have set the land's price at $7.3 million, breaking down into the $4.88 million the city has already paid to obtain possession of the parcel from CGP-Aberdeen, plus an additional $1.92 million, and $500,000 in interest.

Washburn said he couldn't discuss the status of the proposed settlement.

"The state of any settlement is a subject of ongoing litigation," he said.

If the city is unsuccessful in its petition to the state Supreme Court and the case goes to a new trial, city attorneys have said they expect CGP-Aberdeen to seek up to $10 million.