Temple Avenue Roundabout: Goddard vs VDOT - Round 2

Back in the mid-1950s when the Virginia Department of Transportation was building what was then known as the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike they had a land acquisition problem in Colonial Heights. Land acquisition, or eminent domain as the politicos like to call it, is the taking of real property from an owner for benefit of the community and paying them “fair market value.”

So, when the construction parade was heading south on the turnpike in 1956 VDOT realized that one local family owned a key piece of land they needed for both the highway and the current Temple Avenue exit ramp. Lloyd Goddard Jr. owned a working 80-acre dairy farm that included the tract from the old railroad bed to Conduit Road to the creek just beyond Temple Avenue. No doubt when it came time to purchase the land the state was drooling because the property fit in perfectly with their highway scheme.

So the land acquisition people stepped in and purchased almost half the farm, about 30 acres, for approximately $14,000. Such a deal. They left the Goddard family with a much smaller plat, part of which became what’s known affectionately by some in the community as Goddard’s Pond. But the pond was a pasture when the state purchased the property.

Along with the land, the state also took the barn, the silos, and damaged part of the homestead according to details recorded in the deed. Now, due to the ramp construction for the soon-to-be-old-Temple-Avenue exit and a number of natural springs, the pasture became a pond. So much for that seven acres of land.

After the state makes good on the new purchase, Lloyd Goddard III said they would still own two smaller pieces on West Roslyn Road. One piece, on the north side of the street, abuts the current on-ramp and is used as a pasture for horses. The other piece is a plot next to Faith Baptist Church, which Goddard believes it is too small to build on or do anything else with.

“The plans for the new exit ramp go right through the house. And the ramp will be up on the old railroad right of way on the opposite side of the pond from where it is now,” according to Goddard. There is little question that the state is back to finish off the land acquisition process it started with the Goddard family about 60 years ago.

The big question is what is fair market value?

Goddard said no one has actually approached him about purchasing the property, but they all say that’s where the new exit will be going. When he asks about it, they just tell him that real estate is fluid and they will wait until the time is right to make the purchase. Not being up front about the land acquisition is probably a bit upsetting to Goddard. It should be upsetting to all property owners in the community because it means that if the Man wants your property there isn’t much you can do about it.

Goddard’s homestead was built in the early 1800s, perhaps as late as 1820 although the only record Goddard has been able to track down shows 1830. His family has owned the house and land since about 1910, when Goddard’s great grandparents paid $3,000 for the 80 acre property they ran as a dairy farm.

Four generations have lived there. Over the years the Goddard’s sold a few small pieces, the seven acres where Priscilla’s is now for one. Besides the obvious historical value of an antebellum home in the city, records show that confederate soldiers camped on the land. Whether confederate troops used the house as well is possible, but Goddard said there is no documentation to support the claim. The home was also a place where hobos would stop for a sandwich, he said, they had left a marker and his grandmother would leave sandwiches out for them to eat. The railroad bed itself has historical significance, although the state is going to preserve it by burying it, Goddard said. It was a mere quarter mile from Dunlop Station and likely was the train General Robert E. Lee used when he sent reinforcements to the Howlett Line during General Benjamin Butler’s attempts to take Richmond and Petersburg.

Goddard took control of the property when his father signed the deed over to him in 1984, two months before his father passed away. When the state comes to “buy” his property, as it inevitably will, how does such family history fit into a term like “fair market value?”

Given how the state acted back in the ‘50s and the fact that the plans for the new exit ramp, a roundabout situated directly on top of where the old railroad bed cross under Temple Avenue, it’s no wonder Goddard seems a bit nervous. While the price the state paid for the property in their first purchase may have been fair market value at the time, it seems like highway robbery when looked at through the prism of 2013.

Even Goddard admits the state needs to do something to improve the exit ramp and to allow the city to grow. What they do, or how they go about doing it, really doesn’t matter. But it would seem that when you advertise a new road plan that involves taking someone’s homestead away that it would be just fair marketing to talk to the prospective seller. While “seller” might not be the best term for someone whose land is being grabbed by the state for the betterment of the community, it sadly is the term that will likely be used when the deal is struck. Make no mistake, if the state moves forward with the roundabout solution to the I-95-Temple interchange Goddard’s remaining property will be absorbed.

At the meeting last week, the state right of way personnel seemed pleased that only one piece of property would need to be acquired to construct the new ramp. And in truth, it’s pretty amazing when you consider other road projects. But for that one family it amounts to losing everything. Sixty years ago highway construction left the Goddard family with less than a 10^th of their farm. Now, the state is coming back to get the rest of his family’s homestead. It makes one wonder what the fair market value is on that.