PSWID Eminent Domain Action Explained
January 9, 2025
To set the record straight and dispel rumors recently circulating in the community, the public needs to know the following regarding the eminent domain proceedings brought by the Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District (PSWID) to complete the Strawberry Deep Well Project:
Short Version
- PSWID has been granted the ability to finish the deep well in the Strawberry View One Subdivision by a ruling from the Superior Court of Gila County.
- PSWID used the eminent domain process in the courts to acquire the right to finish the well on property owned by the district.
- The permission granted to the district is narrowly tailored to the completion of that well on that property.
- PSWID has no intention to condemn or take more properties or property rights via eminent domain.
More Complete Version
The Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District (PSWID), after much study and work, and knowing that the Strawberry community is currently water-poor and relies on water being moved up the hill from Pine via a single eight-inch pipe, settled on a site for a deep water well on a property owned by PSWID – Lot 26 in the Strawberry View One Subdivision of Strawberry. The well, by drilling into a deeper aquifer than the one used by all of PSWID’s other wells, showed great promise for providing a good stream of water that would alleviate Strawberry’s water needs. Drilling commenced.
PSWID was sued by five nearby residents in the Strawberry View One community arguing that drilling a water well with associated pumping and storage facilities (even though PSWID has operated an active water well on the property for many years) violated deed restrictions in the neighborhood’s CC&Rs or covenants, conditions, and restrictions.
Eventually Judge Timothy Wright of the Superior Court of Gila County ruled in favor of the five neighbors. The judge, however, made clear in his order that we were welcome to seek relief via the eminent domain process.
This we did. The legal details are that PSWID sought relief by “condemning” the rights of the five neighbors to enforce the CC&Rs to the extent they limit or restrict the well project, meaning that for the purposes of the greater good of the community and PSWID’s responsibility of ensuring a robust water supply, the neighbors could not stop the district from completing the well. The judge ruled in favor of PSWID, and the district was granted an Order of Immediate Possession. The judge also lifted his injunction, which means that completion of the well can begin again as soon as possible.
The district has also gone to court to proactively gain the same exemption from the CC&Rs from all lot owners in the Strawberry View One Subdivision. And while the district’s appraiser has determined that the property values in the community would not be impaired as a result of the deep well, and that there is no amount of “just compensation” owed, PSWID has offered the sum of $500 per lot to property owners willing to release their rights only as they relate to completion of the well on the district’s property.
That is where things sit today, January 9, 2025.
The PSWID Board