Mar. 27--Can anything else go wrong with the city's First Street parking ramp serving SMDC Health System, the Sheraton Hotel and -- in case anyone has forgotten -- the Voyageur Lakewalk Inn?

Unfortunately for the city, not everyone did forget about the Voyageur component. Among those keenly aware was a three-person panel charged with reviewing the appeal of the motel owners' dispute with the city, according to documents reviewed by the News Tribune. Their finding: $545,000 for Rick and Pam Pietrusa, the Voyageur's owners, for the city's seizure of the property on which the ramp was built.

Or more accurately, the air rights above their parcel. In a case that is as complicated as it was lengthy, going back at least five years, the city in 2005 didn't actually take the Pietrusa's land, which they had been using for ancillary parking for their Superior Street motel, but the air rights above it. In return, the Pietrusas would have first-floor parking spaces dedicated to their guests -- maintained and covered by the new ramp -- and would be paid more than $100,000. Records show the check was cashed.

That by no means precluded their right to an appeal, and even before doing so the Pietrusas insisted they had plans for the parcel reaching far above the ground level. Specifically, in a commentary in the News Tribune on July 28, 2005 ("Owners of the Voyageur are being abandoned by the city"), they disclosed plans for a 32-unit apartment structure that, independent of the city's designs, included two levels of parking beneath the homes.

Ever seeking compromise, the News Tribune editorial board that same day suggested the two projects be combined and the Pietrusas' apartments be built above the parking ramp (Our View: "Let's get out of the box on Voyageur lot dispute"). Whether because of a lack of cooperation between the parties or because the plans were too far along already or simply because no one thought we were serious, that compromise never happened.

What did happen was a series of other woes, including cost overruns on the ramp's construction and a year-plus disagreement between the city and SMDC over leasing fees for the parking spaces, finally settled early this year after new Mayor Don Ness took office. Once those issues were resolved, it seemed the ramp ruckus was over.

But with this latest chapter, it wasn't. And it still shouldn't be, if somehow the city and the Voyageurs' owners can come to a more reasonable deal. Yes, eminent domain is an ugly business that flies in the face of free enterprise, and the motel owners deserve consideration for their sacrifice, and even punitive damages against the city if so determined by an independent adjudicator. But a judgment of more than half a million dollars for air rights in Duluth would seem to contain a lot of hot air, a commodity in rare supply in the air-conditioned city.

If there's no appeal to the appeal and no other more reasonable, mutually agreed-upon monetary settlement can be reached, is it possible for the city to swap another, equally desirable piece of land -- or air rights -- to the Pietrusas for their development plans?

Provided, of course, that it hasn't been acquired by eminent domain from someone else.

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