FARGO (KFGO-AM) -- Asst. City Attorney Nancy Morris says an "agreement in principle" has been reached with Highland Park Properties LLC to settle a lawsuit the company filed three years ago when the city refused to approve building permits on its land near the Red River north of Fargo.
Morris says the city "admits no liability." The end result has the city purchasing seven sizeable lots from the developer for $920,000. The land, outside city limits but under Fargo control, was not in the flood plain when it was bought for future development. Revisions of the FEMA flood map put the property within the zone and the city's "set back" area where new construction is not allowed.
Developers argued the city first agreed to support a request for an exemption to allow construction but then backed out, a claim the city denied. Highland Park LLC estimated it had spent more than a million dollars on building roads and other infrastructure and was unable to sell the properties.
The city hopes to close on the property and take possession by June.