Face The State Staff Report
Selling window tinting and totem poles out of a property that also houses their home and a doberman pincher rescue project, Kim Snyder and Galen Foster could be the poster children for hardworking small business owners. Over the last year, however, they've also become the face of the increasingly difficult struggle over eminent domain.
It's been nearly a year since Snyder and Foster first made headlines with their plea to save their property from condemnation. The Lakewood couple is involved in an ongoing legal battle with the Regional Transportation District that may finally come to a head in an upcoming hearing scheduled for March.
The property, located at the intersection of Wadsworth and Colfax, is on a prime piece of real estate that RTD is eying as a construction staging area for the west corridor expansion of FasTracks light rail. Because construction staging is classified as a public use, RTD is attempting to use eminent domain to seize the property.
With staging serving only as a temporary public need, however, the property owners and their lawyer are left questioning why Snyder and Foster can't keep title to their land.
Bob Hoban, the couple's attorney, maintains that RTD's long-term objective is to sell the property for private development, a move he maintains would violate the intent of current eminent domain law.
"My clients and I are optimistic because RTD's long term use for their property is private transit-oriented development," said Hoban. "This is inconsistent with the Colorado Constitution and recent amendments to Colorado law."
But RTD spokesman Scott Reed denied any claims the space will be used for transit-oriented development.
"The initial usage is for construction staging," said Reed. "Ultimately, there will be a 1,000 space parking garage for the light rail station. It will not be used for private development."
As FasTracks becomes further behind schedule and deeper in debt, RTD has been on the receiving end of criticism over its use of eminent domain. Eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use by a governmental actor and only following the payment of just compensation to the owner of the targeted property.
The 2008 legislative session brought heartbreak for Snyder and Foster with the defeat of House Bill 1278. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, would have required that if RTD didn't use property acquired through eminent domain for approved transit-related purposes, it would have to sell the land back to the owner at a price equal to or less than what RTD initially paid for it. In April, HB 1278 was postponed indefinitely.
After HB 1278's demise, RTD defended its interest in the land and its heavy lobbying to kill the proposed legislation.
"The original language would have prevented us from honoring our commitment to the voters to implement the FasTracks program," said Pauletta Tonilas, public information manager for FasTracks. "It would have prevented us from acquiring properties essential to the project."
Snyder is looking forward to the March 9 immediate possession hearing and is hoping her story will set a precedent for property rights in Colorado.
"Our hope is that March will bring legal vindication and maybe justice," she said. "I realize that what's legal and what's just aren't always the same thing. But this isn't just about us, it's about every property owner along FasTracks. We've learned that all people really want is to be treated fairly, and we've seen very little of that."