[12/3/03]Jurors will not be allowed to consider how much business a downtown car dealership does annually when deciding how much the City of Vicksburg should pay for the property.

Warren County Judge Johnny Price, hearing the eminent domain case brought by the city against Rocking Horse Motors, 20 N. Washington St., ruled Tuesday that sales volume is not relevant to the value of the tract.

Attorneys for both sides argued back and forth as jurors waited in the courthouse hallway before Price ultimately sided with the city on the point.

“He’s got so many feet of dirt down there and that’s all the city has to pay for,” Price said. “I don’t care if he’s doing brain surgery or selling fish. I don’t care how many cars he sells.”

Jerry Campbell, attorney for property owner Mike Kavanaugh, had argued that value of the location is reflected by sales at the site, adding sales topped $1 million in 2002.

Bobby Robinson, representing the city, said that sales or profits show how well a business is managed, not how valuable the real estate is.

“The city is purchasing the land, not the business,” Robinson said.

The trial began Monday and was expected to wrap up sometime today with jurors setting a price the city must pay if it wants to buy the track as part of a downtown makeover. They visited the site Monday and have heard testimony from real estate appraiser Wayne Thornton and Kavanaugh.

Thornton, who was contracted by the city to set a value for the property, showed 10 parcels of land and eight buildings used as comparables to come up with the $214,500 city offer. Using those comparisons, the 79,000-square-foot property on the east and west sides of Washington Street at First East, was valued at $2.79 per square foot plus $14,000 for one building.

While some of the 10 lots used by Thornton sold for much less, such as a parcel at Cherry and China streets that sold for $1.28 per square foot, Campbell questioned Thornton on two of those 10 that sold for much more.

The Animal Museum property at China and Walnut streets sold for $5.58 per square foot and the parking lot at Walnut and Veto streets sold for $4.69 per square foot.

“Why did you not use that calculation, but you dropped down to (those) across the highway and not in the urban renewal area?” Campbell asked.

Thornton said that in the final evaluation, only five of the 10 properties were used to appraise Kavanaugh’s land because those were the only ones comparable. He pointed to the size of the two properties on Walnut Street, both under 50,000 square feet, and to the use of those properties.

Both sides have already agreed that the city has a right to take the property leaving how much they should pay as the only question for jurors to decide.

“This gets a little tedious, but the numbers are what the entire lawsuit is all about and we want to be sure and get them right,” Price told jurors.

Kavanaugh, who said his property is worth about $800,000, testified that the location at the foot of North Washington Street leading into downtown makes it an ideal location for a used car business. There are about 7,700 cars that pass his dealership daily, according to a Mississippi Department of Transportation report, and it is the primary route to the Vicksburg Harbor or from the Kings community.

“This makes this a real exclusive piece of dirt or whatever you want to call it,” Kavanaugh said.

Jimmy Hamilton, a real estate appraiser for Kavanaugh, was expected to testify this morning and is expected to be the last witness before the jury begins its deliberation.

Next week, the owners of the Discount Furniture Barn, 600 Jackson St., are expected to be in court against the city for another eminent domain trial. The city had offered owners Henry Heggins and T.D. Easterling $125,000 for the property, but they have said the building is worth much more.

The municipal plan for the area includes river and rail museums, a downtown park and other displays.

Completed or nearly completed is a rebricking of Washington Street’s busiest blocks with new lighting and landscaping. The city, using money from a November 2001 bond issue, has also bought other buildings with plans to resell to new owners.