ACHD demolished Smoky Davis in 2017. Now it will pay owners far more than it planned
Update Feb. 19, 2020: The Ada County Highway District commissioners voted on Wednesday, Feb. 19, to approve the settlement.
The story below was first published Feb. 18 under the headline “ACHD demolished Smoky Davis in 2017. Now it may pay owners far more than it planned.”
In 2017, the Ada County Highway District demolished Smoky Davis, the iconic Boise smoked meat store. Three years later, its owners could get $1.8 million in compensation.
ACHD commissioners are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposed settlement to compensate Gary and Dee Davis for the property. The store was located at 3914 W. State and had been in the Davis family since 1953.
The building was torn down in 2017 as part of the intersection expansion at State Street, Veterans Memorial Parkway and 36th Street. ACHD claimed it through eminent domain, which is the government’s right to take private property for public use as long as the owners are paid.
ACHD offered the Davises $248,260. The Davises rejected the offer. They told the Statesman last year that ACHD contended it needed only to pay for the one-eighth an acre it took as part of the expansion, plus moving costs for the Davises to open a new business. The Davises argued ACHD should replace the building on the remaining land.
The U.S. and state constitutions require government entities to pay fair value for property they take through eminent domain. If an agreement cannot be reached, ACHD has to sue the property owner for a court rule on what a fair value is for the property it is taking.
The $1.8 million settlement is payment for not only the land taken but also the “resulting damages,” which include business damages, relocation costs and re-establishment costs, according to the proposed settlement. That amount will subtract the original $248,260 already paid.
The Statesman reported in August that ACHD had spent more than $273,000 on the lawsuit as of July of last year. The agency had to be sued to disclose that via public records request. The Statesman was directed to make a public records request when a reporter asked for an updated number.
It is not clear if or when Smoky Davis might reopen. A lawyer representing the Davises was not immediately available for comment. A spokeswoman for ACHD declined to comment.
In a September blog post on ACHD’s news site attributed to its staff, officials wrote that the district did “not believe that the Davises are entitled to a windfall that would give them more than what they had.” It said the Davises were asking for more than $2.6 million to cover the taking of property and two buildings as well as the reconstruction of a “new and improved building.”
Independent appraisers had valued the land at between $250,000 and $455,000, and ACHD offered the $455,000 to the Davises, the post said. The Davises declined that offer, according to the post.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 12:16 PM.
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