Landowners, province settle on price for Cornwall land expropriation
Brian and Dora MacKinley to receive $6,000 per acre for farm land in Town of Cornwall
A Cornwall couple has settled their land-expropriation claim with the province.
Brian and Dora MacKinley will receive $268,920. That is more than double what they were originally paid for about eight hectares (21.77 acres) of farm land they owned on Cornwall Road.
The increased payment was based on a negotiated settlement that placed the value of the land, located within the Town of Cornwall, at $6,000 per acre, according to court documents.
The MacKinleys had obtained a third-party evaluation that estimated the land to be worth $8,000 per acre.
The agreed amount also compensates the MacKinleys for the loss of income from the farm land, as well as loss of a potential one-acre building lot, among other costs, which totals another $138,300.
The court also ordered the province to pay the MacKinleys $38,222.75 to cover their court costs.
Details of the negotiated settlement were filed Thursday in Charlottetown Supreme Court.
The province has agreed to built an access road for farm equipment to land in the area still owned by the MacKinleys. The province will also repair any water-flow damage caused by road construction.
Province says it expects no further expropriations
The Department of Transportation expropriated the land in October 2017 for construction of the Cornwall bypass.
At that time, the MacKinleys were paid $134,100. They began legal action under the Expropriation Act to have a judge determine the amount of compensation to be paid. The MacKinleys asked for $340,664 according to court documents.
The MacKinleys are one of two property owners the province expropriated land from for extension of the Trans-Canada Highway around Cornwall. The other land owner also received additional compensation through legal action.
The province also purchased land, without expropriation, from 31 other property owners.
The province expects no further expropriations will be required to complete construction of the bypass, according to a spokesperson for the transportation department.