By Eric Parry
Staff writer
August 08, 2008 12:31 pm CONCORD — The state and the owner of a downtown flower shop have come to an agreement on how much the Lyons family will receive when they lose their property to an eminent domain claim. Mity Rainbow, LLC, owned by the Lyons family, took the state to court almost three months ago hoping to get a better deal for the Birch Street property where Dandi-Lyons is located. Attorney Tony Soltani, the lawyer representing the Lyons family, said the two sides have come to an agreement of how much the family will receive but nothing is final until Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council approve the deal on Sept. 2. The state has plans to take the flower shop by eminent domain to make improvements to the intersection of Crystal Avenue and Birch Street and create additional parking spaces in downtown Derry. Derry Public Works director Mike Fowler said last month that the reconstruction of the intersection is being held up by the case, which is in Rockingham County Superior Court, and won't go out to bid until November at the earliest. Soltani wouldn't elaborate on any specifics of the agreement but said it's a good deal because neither the state nor his client are happy about the outcome. "There's an old saying that the best settlement is where nobody is happy," Soltani said. Last month, Soltani said he was confident the case would wind up in the state Supreme Court. The original deal by the state was less than half of what the property is worth and his client couldn't possibly accept the deal that would benefit all of the other downtown businesses, Soltani said. "As a matter of principle, it's offensive to make one guy rich and make one guy poor," Soltani said. The town's assessing records value the 2 Birch St. property at $441,400. Plans to add turning lanes and widen the intersection have been in the works for at least six years, but Mity Rainbow, LLC filed the law suit less than three months ago arguing for a fair price. His client was offered a "take it or leave it" offer and has been dealing with the state on the eminent domain issue for at least two years, according to Soltani. Soltani said his client stands to win the case because the state tightened the reigns on its eminent domain laws two years ago. The new regulations only allow the state to take private property for public good and not just improving the economic environment. The plans for the intersection would add 20 parking spaces downtown but wouldn't leave enough room for Dandi-Lyons to conduct its business. The state can also take private property if it's a blighted area, but Soltani said his client's business would hardly fit into that category. "If downtown Derry is blighted then the whole state of New Hampshire is a blighted area," Soltani said.
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