A B.C. businessman who has been fighting the expropriation of his property to make way for a new civic centre says that he's close to reaching a settlement on compensation from the City of Surrey.
Rod Dales and his father Roy lost a legal battle with the city last month, when a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed an application to set aside an expropriation order for their two-storey office building and parking lot on 135th Street.
After that decision came out, Rod Dales had said he was ready to take the city to court again over the proposed compensation for the property. Although the family says the property has been appraised at $4.54 million, the city was offering $3.5 million.
But that all changed on Sept. 3, when Dales says officials from the city approached him to make a "last ditch effort" on the offer. Then, they started talking settlements.
"We kind of worked with the numbers and worked with the future cost of going to court, and came up with a figure that makes sense to us," Dales told ctvbc.ca.
He added that negotiations are expected to wrap up within the next week or so.
Although Dales said that he's satisfied that the city is willing to settle, he's not pleased with the province's expropriation laws.
"We still don't like the process that they can take property without us having agreed to sell it," he said.
A spokeswoman for the City of Surrey said that she was unable to comment on ongoing property negotiations, but confirmed that a settlement discussion is underway.
The planned expropriation will make way for the city's $500-million civic centre, which will include a new City Hall, library, performing arts centre and Simon Fraser University space.
