Review Board Has Solomonic Task
By Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Attorney Michele Rosenfeld had just finished arguing the value of a back yard that lies in the path of the future intercounty connector when the 83-year-old man asked her to speak up.
"Your voice is beautiful, but it's too low," Robert Hanson told her during the recent hearing at the Rockville courthouse. "We all have hearing aids, and they're turned up to the max, but I've heard about half of what you've said."
Hanson, a North Potomac cattle farmer, sits on the Montgomery County Board of Property Review, a little-known panel that decides whether the state has offered "just compensation" for private land seized to build the six-lane toll road between Gaithersburg and Laurel.
Usually, the three board members, each in their 80s, hear one or two cases a year. But in the past six months, as the state has begun buying hundreds of properties in the 18.8-mile highway's planned path, they've sometimes heard two a week.
The retired farmer, lawyer and engineer -- three occupations required by the 1956 state law governing such boards -- are deciding cases that, together, involve millions of dollars.
Their hearings, conducted like informal trials, can spark such emotion that some property owners leave fuming or choking back tears.
The age of the board's members doesn't go unnoticed, particularly among property owners already angry about the prospect of living near a highway. The eldest, Herbert Hall, 89, often declines to view the properties in question. Hall, a retired engineer who lives in Silver Spring, said he has difficulty walking and fears falling on uneven ground.
Joseph Simon, 67, a retired manager who contested the state's offer for part of his yard in Derwood, said the board members were "true gentlemen." However, he said that "an hour into the meeting, I realized they didn't hear what was going on. They didn't ask questions, or the ones they did didn't seem right."
The panel awarded Simon and his wife, Donna, $46,000 more than the state's offer of $123,650. Even so, Simon said, the amount is short of the $220,640 their appraiser found would compensate for their home's lower resale value with a highway sound wall 50 feet from their back door.
Simon's neighbor, Bud Campbell, 61, who owns the Derwood house for which Rosenfeld argued, said he immediately grew concerned during his board hearing.
"Some [members] were nodding off," said Campbell, who owns a heating and air conditioning company. "I don't hold age against anyone, but if they can't hear, how can you make a judgment?"
Using its powers of eminent domain, the state plans to take 1,400 acres from almost 500 property owners, most in central Montgomery and some in northwestern Prince George's County. The $391 million budgeted for buying the connector's right-of-way amounts to one of the Maryland State Highway Administration's largest land purchases ever.
If a property owner rejects the state's offer, the state seizes the land and deposits the proposed amount with the county's circuit court. The property review board, whose members are appointed by circuit court judges, then determines a fair price. Either side may appeal the board's decision to a judge or jury.
Hyman Shapiro, chairman of the board and a Rockville lawyer who, at 80, describes himself as the "baby" of the group, said the retirees want to serve their communities. They also have time to attend weekday hearings. Board members use common sense and their life experience as property owners to try to make fair decisions, he said.
While they joke about their age -- "Be gentle, we're old men," Shapiro said after a group interview -- board members say they remain vigorous and sharp. "I've still got young thoughts," Hanson said.
It's not like anyone else is bucking for the job. When Shapiro sought a board opening last year, he was the only applicant. Hall got the position 13 years ago and Hanson seven years ago, after the then-chairman, former Montgomery Circuit Court judge Joseph M. Mathias, asked them to serve. Mathias retired from the panel last year at 93.
Montgomery Circuit Court Administrative Judge Ann S. Harrington said she has received no complaints about the review board.
The panel has continued its work -- and the state has continued buying land -- as a federal judge considers two lawsuits aimed at stopping the $2.4 billion road on environmental grounds. The judge's ruling is expected this week.
Whether it pays to go before the board is debatable, especially for property owners who hire a lawyer or their own appraiser. Such expenses can exceed $10,000. In seven of 21 cases heard since May, the board awarded nothing above the state's offer, according to a Post review. The additional money it did award ranged from $950 to $50,000, court records show. Six property owners have filed a "notice of dissatisfaction" with the board's decision, sending their cases to court, according to court records. No trials have been held.
The Prince George's review board has not begun to hear cases.
State highway officials say the fact that relatively few property owners have ended up before the board -- and even fewer in circuit court -- shows that the state's offers, based on independent appraisals, are reasonable.
Property review boards, established in all Maryland counties, were designed to keep eminent domain cases from crowding the courts. Members are appointed to two-year terms but may serve as long as they wish. They are paid $75 a day by the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Some property owners questioned how they could get a fair hearing from a board paid by the agency they are opposing. "How objective are they?" Simon said.
Shapiro said the transportation agency's payments don't affect the board's work. He compared panel members to judges who are paid by the state.
David Buck, a state highway spokesman, also dismissed any concerns of a conflict, saying "We're not involved" in the review board's decision-making process.
Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
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