When Pigeon Forge takes an Ohio family’s second home, it makes a statement citing eminent domain.
This happens in response to the Race family, led by Doug and Mika Race, posting many YouTube videos chronicling their conflict with the city.
WVLT – PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. Citing eminent domain, the City of Pigeon Forge issued a statement following the seizure of a second residence belonging to an Ohio family.
This happens in response to the Race family, led by Doug and Mika Race, posting many YouTube videos chronicling their conflict with the city.
The family claims that in order to build the Westside Connector, which will lessen traffic on Pigeon Forge’s Parkway, the city wrongfully acquired their property.
The statement from the city presents a different image. City officials stated in it that the property — saw a revaluation of $489,665. According to city authorities, the Races made a $3 million bid in response to their $490,000 offer to the family for the space.
Officials stated that since the first offer, offers and counteroffers have been made by the city and the Races. The statement claims that the Races eventually decided to accept a $539,000 offer from the city, to which they responded with a $1.5 million offer.
According to the statement, “the Races could have offered the property as an overnight rental, as was their original intent, to derive and collect income from the property, and in the interim, the City was sympathetic to the Races’ financial obligations to the property.” “The Races saw a decline.”
It is said that these conversations began in March 2023. In the end,
According to the statement, the city told the Races to leave, which they did, and seized the property because they had chosen not to use it.
It’s also crucial to remember that in November 2021, a City Commission meeting approved the designs for the Westside Connector, which included cutting a route through the Races’ land. In August 2022, a few months later, the Races purchased the house.
Eminent domain is a regrettable but essential procedure. The city of Pigeon Forge has been the target of unrelenting allegations for eight months regarding a 1,047-square-foot commercial building at 362 Ogle Dr. that is not a primary residence. The City of Pigeon Forge has worked hard at this time to come to a financial
resolution with owners Doug and Mika Race by issue of just compensation.
For more than 30 years, the City of Pigeon Forge has worked toward providing Pigeon Forge residents with a much-needed alternative route to bypass Parkway traffic. To meet this need, the City Commission approved the building of the Westside Connector. To help determine its path in relation to Ogle Drive, residents were invited (via public media notices and individual door hangers placed on approximately 50 tracts) to attend a public meeting on Oct. 26, 2021. Based on public comments and the recommendations of the city’s engineering firm, it was determined that in the best interest of Freedom Baptist Church and the Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center nursing home, the Westside Connector’s final route would travel through 362 Ogle Dr. The route was presented and approved in a Pigeon Forge City Commission meeting on Nov. 22, 2021.
On Aug. 17, 2022, the property at 362 Ogle Dr. was purchased by Doug and Mika Race of Chillicothe, Ohio, for $306,000 as an investment property, nine months after the Pigeon Forge City Commission approved the final Westside Connector route. Pigeon Forge city staff has been in ongoing discussions with the Races since March 2023 to negotiate the purchase of the property and provide compensation to the Races.
As part of this process, the property was appraised, as a commercial property, not a residential property, at a value of $489,665. To date, the Races have not submitted an alternate appraisal of the property. In an effort to provide compensation to the Races, in October 2023, the City offered $490,000, and the Races counter-offered with $3 million. The City countered with $539,000 (an offer that represents a value of $514 per square foot). The Races countered at $1.5 million. After 17 months, attempts to reach a financial resolution have proven unsuccessful and will be determined by court action. The City was sympathetic to the Races’ financial obligations to the property, and in the interim (before work would begin on the Westside Connector in the Ogle Drive area), the Races could have offered the property as an overnight rental, as was their original intent, to derive and collect income from the property. The Races declined.
Since the Races elected not to utilize the property, the City elected to move forward with plans for the Westside Connector. On Jan. 12, 2024, the City of Pigeon Forge filed a petition for condemnation of the property at 362 Ogle Dr. At this time, the amount of damages, $490,000 (determined and equal to the appraised value), was deposited to the clerk of the court with this filing.
On March 16, the city attorney filed a notice of hearing to take place on May 6 in which a request for possession of the property was submitted. Late on May 3, via their attorney, the Races agreed to vacate the property, allowing the city to take ownership. The Races requested and received 30 days to vacate the property. The order of possession (dated May 6) was recorded on June 6, 2024, with the register of deeds.
On July 10, the city attorney received a motion to draw down funds on deposit for the court to pay off the Races’ mortgage. The city has maintained it would not oppose the court clerk paying off the mortgage once it is instructed to do so by the court.
