THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604200342
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
The Dare County Board of Education must pay some Hatteras Island property owners $475,000 in compensation for six sound-front lots the board took through the power of eminent domain, a Dare County jury said Friday.
The Superior Court panel of six men and six women deliberated for more than five hours. At issue in the weeklong trial was how much the board would pay Elpis Sakaria of Beltsville, Md., and Jack and Lillian Hillman of Chevy Chase, Md., for the lots in Buxton.
The parcels will be used for new athletic fields at Cape Hatteras School.
School Board attorneys had argued that no more than $260,000 should be paid for the property; attorneys for the landowners said the 5.3-acre tract was worth $860,000.
In the jury's ruling, two lots were valued at $65,000 each, two at $80,000 each, one at $85,000 and one at $100,000.
Both sides said they were disappointed.
``I'm very sad,'' said Lillian Hillman. ``We really didn't want to sell. We were forced to do it. By the time we get done with the legal fees, there won't be anything left.''
The property owners said their legal bills in this fight exceed $150,000. They are considering an appeal of the condemnation action to the U.S. Supreme Court.
``We're not going to be able to buy replacement lots with what will be left over,'' said Jack Hillman. ``I may be able to buy half a car, but I can't live in that.''
Sakaria said she was upset because the trial was not postponed so she could celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter.
``I was never given a continuance,'' she said. ``I grew up in Greece under the occupation of the Germans and the communists, and I was never prohibited from celebrating Easter. But here in the Promised Land, they would not allow this case to be delayed so I could celebrate our holiest holiday.''
School board officials were at a special closed session to discuss another land transaction and so were unavailable to comment. But board attorney Brian Howell said he had mixed feelings about the jury's decision.
``We were hoping to get a decision more in line with what we believed the land was worth,'' Howell said. ``But juries have a way of shaking things out, and this one deliberated for five hours.''
KEYWORDS: JURY TRIAL DARE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION by CNB