Sunday, December 29, 2019

'The whole thing is a mess': Azarian Wrecking files suit against City of Racine, RDA

From The Journal Times.com:



RACINE — Proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Azarian Wrecking against the City of Racine and Racine’s Redevelopment Authority will continue Friday, with Azarian Wrecking claiming that the city and the RDA misled and underpaid the company during the sale of its property at the site of the former Machinery Row development.
In the lawsuit, Azarian Wrecking alleges that it was not paid the full value of its property, and that the city and RDA did not provide adequate relocation fees, violated eminent domain laws and held back money from the sale of the property while also misrepresenting what the money was used for.
“The RDA and the City deliberately made representations of fact to plaintiffs that were untrue in order to cheat the plaintiffs out of protections and benefits under Wisconsin Eminent Domain law,” the plaintiffs assert in court documents.
Racine City Attorney Scott Letteney said the claims against the city are untrue.
“The plaintiffs make some very outrageous allegations in the amended complaint,” Letteney said in an email to The Journal Times. “These include baseless claims of fraud, alleged violations of federal law that have already been dismissed with prejudice in a previous lawsuit and other claims that are time-barred.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine the amount of compensation the Azarian companies should receive, as well as the amount of punitive damages, litigation costs and “other and further relief as the court may deem fair, just and equitable.”
The lawsuit, filed in September, is one of many lawsuits filed regarding the now-defunct Machinery Row development.

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