In an eminent domain dispute that has spanned more than a decade, a jury awarded $5.85 million to a family for a 50-acre tract of land in Montgomery Township, Pa., for which they were offered only about $1 million when the township took the land in 2010.

Lead trial attorney David B. Snyder of Fox Rothschild, who represented the Zehr Family Limited Partnership, said the Montgomery County jury’s award will automatically swell to about $7.5 million when statutory interest is added. Interest will continue to accrue until the verdict is paid.

In the three-day trial, the sole issue before the eight-member jury was the value of the Stump Road property. The township purportedly took the property to use as a park but has not yet done anything with it.

At the time the property was taken, the township claimed it was worth about $1 million, but later said it was worth about $2.6 million.

At trial, Snyder presented two expert witnesses – an appraiser and an environmental engineer.

“We presented a value of $5.85 million and the jury rendered a verdict of exactly that amount,” Snyder said. “I’m happy for the Zehr family that they finally got a fair price for their property after a 12-year wait.”

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