THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220376
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 28 lines
The city acted in good faith in trying to buy William E. Beamon's East Washington Street property for parking for its new court complex, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Still to be decided is whether the city was ``arbitrary and capricious'' in condemning the property after Beamon refused to sell, while skipping other businesses in the same block.
The Mills E. Godwin Jr. Court Building, under construction on Main Street, is expected to be finished in early 1998.
Circuit Court Judge Rodham T. Delk said Beamon's question has always been, ``Why my property, as opposed to someone else's property?''
He ruled on the first issue before noon, saying the city had made bona fide offers for the three-story building though the amounts were not fair market value.
By the end of the day, Delk said he would read the transcripts and exhibits before ruling - he hopes this week, he said - on the second issue.
Beamon's attorney, Joseph T. Waldo, said his client had never challenged the need for parking, only where the spaces should be and how many must be on-site.