Mitigation Fund for University Avenue Businesses
From TC Daily Planet:
About 40 University Avenue business owners and their allies gathered June 18 at Model Cities in St. Paul for a presentation on business owners’ rights to construction mitigation during the building of the Central Corridor Light Rail line. Organized by the University Avenue Business Association (UABA), the presentation by attorneys Larry Peterson, Brent Kleffman, Stuart Alger, and Diane Dube outlined the rights available to business owners if their property is partially or fully taken (through eminent domain) or if the construction phase of the project hurts their sales.
“Document, document, document” was the phrase of the hour. Presenters strongly encouraged business owners begin recording daily customer, traffic, and revenue counts in order to be able to show how construction affected their business. However, while there are statutes in place to help ensure fair compensation of business owners whose property is fully or partially taken by a government entity, Peterson noted there is much work to do on creating construction mitigation funds for business owners.
UABA Executive Director Linda Winsor emphasized that while there was a diversity of opinion among business owners about the light-rail project, the organization’s goal is to make sure that existing businesses on the corridor have the resources and the knowledge to stay right where they are, before, during and after construction. “Our members’ opinions of the LRT range from ‘didn’t want it, still don’t want it’ to ‘would love it.’ The really important thing is that this amenity is for you folks [business owners], that this works for everyone.”
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