The Mesa City Council approved Monday for the city to acquire eight acres of land, likely through eminent domain, to construct a new public safety facility for police and fire departments.
Eminent domain is a government’s right to seize private property for public use if necessary, while paying the original owner “just compensation.”
The city has been eyeing an undeveloped property in the 1300 block of north Power Road just north of Brown Road in northeast Mesa to construct its new public safety facility to address slower police and fire response time in the area.
City officials said they have tried to negotiate with the property owner to purchase the land since last year. Mesa appraised the land at just more than $2 million in November, but the property owner told the city its appraisal was too low and that he was working on a counteroffer.