PHILADELPHIA - A federal court has found no racial animus in Upper Merion's decision to take for itself land being sold to a Black business owner under a gentlemen's agreement.
Judge Mark Kearney on May 1 ruled against Eddie Hendrick in his federal lawsuit over the taking of a property adjacent to Walker Park that Upper Merion had long been interested in turning into a recreational area for residents.
But its owner, Louis Damiani, didn't want to sell it to the township. Instead, he had a handshake agreement with Hendrick, who owns a trucking company called Billy Boy Contracting, for $1.5 million.
Hendrick had essentially taken over the property and made his down payment, but the sale was never officially recorded. So, Upper Merion condemned the property and took it.
Because it had been interested in the property for 16 years before taking it during its purchase to a Black-owned business, Upper Merion must have had racial motivations, Hendrick said.
"Mr. Hendrick has no evidence suggesting the Township decided to condemn the property because he is Black," Kearney wrote.
"Without evidence of racial or ethnic bias, the Township's decision to wait until March 2024 to condemn the property is no different than an inconsistent application of zoning requirements, a delayed permit or approval, or any of the other land-use decisions which do not rise to the level of 'conscience-shocking' under our Court of Appeals' guidance."
The land is 1.13 acres with a large garage facility. Kearney notes Upper Merion is predominately white, and white-owned businesses occupied the property for 70 years.
It is adjacent to Walker Park and separated from it by woods and a creek. Upper Merion first offered to buy it in 2008 for a possible dog park or baseball fields.
Damiani considered selling it in 2020, and the township appraised its value at up to $970,000. In 2022, Damiani and Hendricks began discussing its sale and reached a handshake agreement for Hendrick to improve the property in order to decide whether his business could operate there.
Damiani told Upper Merion he had a $2 million in place when rejecting its latest offer in 2022. The township manager discovered the sale was to a minority-owned business shortly after.
At the end of that year, Damiani and Hendrick finalized their agreement, with Hendrick paying $600,000 down and paying another $900,000 in the following five years.
But the property was never transferred to Hendrick. By 2024, Upper Merion decided not to spend money approved in a bond issue for land transactions on other pieces of land that were available and instead condemned Damiani's land.
A declaration of taking was filed March 22, 2024, in Montgomery County court. Both Hendrick and Damiani objected but were overruled, leading Upper Merion to pay $905,524.04 for the land.
Hendrick got his down payment back but was out the costs of the improvements he had made. Kearney ruled he was not treated differently by the township than the owners of the other properties that Upper Merion chose not to buy.
Meanwhile, Hendrick and Damiani continue to fight the condemnation proceeding before a board of viewers. Hendrick moved his trucking equipment to a new location in Phoenixville and is planning an appeal, said attorney Robert Vance, who represents him in the federal court case but not the condemnation case.