Sep. 23—HIGH POINT — A longtime High Point business is seeking a court order to bar the city from seizing its property in order to provide more parking in the downtown area.
Attorneys for Piedmont Electric Repair Co. allege in new court filings that the city is attempting to take their client's property by eminent domain to benefit the private development of the neighboring Congdon Yards project, instead of for a public purpose, as required by law.
Court papers also document that a 2020 city-commissioned study concluded that the city already had more than enough existing parking to accommodate current needs and future development in the Truist Point stadium area where PERCO is.
Bruce Ashley, a Greensboro attorney representing the city in the case, said plans for a parking facility at W. English Road and N. Lindsay Street date back several years to when the city first started planning for the stadium and surrounding development.
"The parking facility plan for the PERCO property has been part of the planning for the downtown catalyst project since the beginning," Ashley said. "We're now at the stage with the various developments in the area that it's time to go ahead and move forward with the parking deck. It has become obvious parking is a need, and this is the way to provide that."
The city filed a lawsuit in Guilford County Superior Court on May 17 to acquire by condemnation the two parcels that comprise PERCO: 508 W. English Road and 208 N. Lindsay St.
The properties adjoin a vacant parcel at W. English Road and N. Lindsay Street that used to be a gas station that the city bought and demolished a few years ago.
The city argues that it needs the land for an off-street parking facility that is open to the public when attending events at the stadium and when participating in "other business, civic, recreational and residential activities in the area."
The City Council unanimously authorized the condemnation in March after multiple unsuccessful attempts to purchase the property.
State law allows governments to take private property for public use as long as just compensation is paid, which the city has deemed to be $985,000 in this case. The city deposited this amount with the Clerk of Court in May when it filed the lawsuit.
In their response, PERCO's attorneys — High Point law partners Robert A. Brinson, Christopher C. Finan and Zachary Green — wrote that while their client has not accepted the money, the city's estimate falls short of what would be owed to PERCO if the city had legal authority to take the property.
PERCO has operated its electric services and supply business in High Point since 1936 and has been at its current site for more than 40 years.
In making their case, the attorneys obtained documents showing that Congdon Yards representatives were lobbying the city for more parking as far back as 2019.
"The lack of sufficient, well located parking is a hindrance to the economic development plans we have been developing over the past two years," Megan Oglesby, executive director of the Earl and Kathryn Congdon Family Foundation, the developer of Congdon Yards, wrote in a letter to the city in May 2019. "As you can see, parking is a large, insurmountable obstacle that we as a private developer cannot alleviate without the city's action, investment and support."
Shortly thereafter, the city hired engineering consulting firm AECOM to study current and future parking demand in the stadium area.
The study, published in August 2020 and included in the defendant's court filing, concluded that the total number of parking spaces currently available in the project area is 1,624 and that only about 14% of the total capacity was used on a typical day. It found that all of the current uses and proposed new development in the area will require a maximum of 1,454 spaces, which would still be below the existing capacity.
Also in the filing is a January 2022 parking study commissioned by Congdon Yards, which concluded that if an event center, hotel and other proposed developments on the campus occur, it will have a shortage of 887 spaces.
PERCO's attorneys obtained copies of emails showing that Congdon Yards representatives presented their parking study to top city officials in late January, after which foundation President and Chairman David Congdon emailed the city's management team and others, "This should be quite a priority for the city!"
The next day, Jan. 28, Deputy City Manager Greg Ferguson emailed the city transportation director to ask, "Is there a firm you would recommend to look at parking around the stadium. We need to get an on-call firm to move fast on one."
But the city had not yet hired a firm to study whether there is a need for parking when it initiated the condemnation process, the attorneys wrote.
The city did this "plainly in response to Congdon's requests," they allege.
Moreover, the city's parking plans are "for the paramount benefit of Congdon and the continued private development of Congdon Yards. Solving Congdon Yards' parking dilemma is not a public use or benefit, or if at all, only an incidental public use or benefit," the court filing states.
It wasn't until July 26 that the city confirmed it had hired engineering consultant Kimley-Horn to "study downtown parking, present and future needs," Ferguson emailed Congdon and Oglesby. "This includes existing on-street parking, parking decks in walkable proximity (with improvements), the options for shuttle use, and planned parking decks and their locations."
The new study will take into account not just the development of Congdon Yards but other current and planned projects in the area and their parking needs.
Elliott Sidewalk Communities, the city-commissioned "master developer" for the land around the stadium, recently delivered its first project — the Bedrock building at 275 N. Elm St., which includes a food hall and offices. The firm has an agreement with the city to develop several other projects in the coming years.
In addition, several businesses have opened in the area and developers such as Peters Development have mixed-use projects underway or in the planning stages.
PERCO's attorneys are asking a judge for a permanent injunction that would prevent the city from taking the property by eminent domain on the grounds that it does not have the authority to do so.
If the case isn't dismissed, the attorneys ask that a judge or jury determine just compensation plus interest for seizing the property, and that PERCO's attorney fees and other expenses associated with the case be charged to the city.
pkimbrough@hpenews.com — 336-888-3531
