SPARKS –– The Sparks City Council voted 4-1 Monday to settle a lawsuit in an eminent domain case involving a Victorian Square property.

A $856,280 payout from Sparks will end the case between Victorian Partners LLC and the City of Sparks.

“I am going to support this, but this is part of the reason I don’t like using eminent domain,” said councilman Mike Carrigan as the Monday vote was taken. “It seems like every time we do that this is what happens and it is a long, drawn out process.”

“This may be the last condemnation that the city may do because it has been a mess,” added councilman Ron Schmitt.

Schmitt voted against paying the settlement. He said it was a "tremendous waste of taxpayers' money."

According to Schmitt, the city was paying about 15 percent more than it should have.

The Victorian Partners building at 1212 Victorian Ave. fell to the wrecking ball in December 2009 after the city acquired it through eminent domain.

The building was the former home of Paddy and Irene’s Irish Pub, a small convenience store and several upstairs apartment tenants. It was torn down to make way for a north-south connector road that will link Victorian Avenue with Avenue of the Oaks, which runs behind the Century 14 movie theater.

However, while the owner of the building agreed to the demolition, a lawsuit still hung in the air over the purchase price of the property. In addition, the property owner claimed the terms of a city Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) had been violated, alleging breach of contract, according to settlement documents.

The city’s appraisal of the property and the former land owner’s appraisal were the same, according to the same documents. Each claimed that 1212 Victorian Ave. was worth $585,000. However, Victorian Partners also claimed that they were owed an additional $280,280 for surplus land that was vacant after the building standing on it was torn down in 1998. The land owner also claimed damages from the breach of the agreement, including lost profits from the building.

Victorian Partners total claims equaled more than $1.165 million. Monday, the city agreed to pay $856,280 to settle the case.

“Settling this lawsuit for all of the various claims that were associated with it I think was a very good thing that the city did protecting the taxpayers,” said city attorney Chet Adams, “It is difficult. … it is the best we could have gotten.”