There's going to be a new street built in empty lot next to mine and got a letter yesterday for appraisal of small section that the city needs to buy. The plan also includes a construction easement that would cover some of my (asphalt) driveway and lawn.
My question is is there typically some payment made to homeowner in this situation? Also is there some type of agreement in advance to cover any potential damages? I can easily see my driveway getting damaged in this process. Any thoughts or past experiences would be appreciated.
The city HAS to pay fair market value for any interest in private property that the city wishes to obtain, whether to acquire full title to the property or an easement of some sort whether permanent or private. The city HAS to start the acquisition process by offering the fair market value as determined by an appraisal. It's in the city's best interests to obtain an accurate appraisal, and not try to "low ball" an offer by hiring an appraiser who might tend to arrive at a low valuation (individual appraisers can sometimes vary a great deal in arriving at a value), but if you think the appraisal is low, propose a higher valuation to the city which you can throw out there on your own, or you can hire your own appraiser.
It's generally in everyone's best interests, including the city, to arrive at a negotiated agreement. But if that's not possible, the process will move on to condemnation wherein the city can "forcibly" acquire the property/easement through payment of a fair price. The first step after notifying you that condemnation will be done, is to submit the issue to a condemnation jury, which will consist of several citizens appointed by the County Board of Supervisors for such purpose. The appointees tend to be real estate agents, appraisers, or others who would have knowledge of real estate value. That jury will review the city's offer and your counter, and decide a value that can NEVER be lower than the appraised value first offered by the city. So, it may seem that you could never lose by going to condemnation, but you can in the sense that you should retain an attorney and get an appraisal if going the condemnation route. That means expense to you, and if the condemnation jury decides that the city's offer fairly represents the value of the property, you could end up with less than what the city offered by reason of having to pay for representation.
The city will also be paying to go before the condemnation jury, so the city will also be paying more for the property. Hence the benefits of reaching a negotiated agreement, takes less time and neither side is paying attorneys etal.
If the property owner STILL isn't satisfied that a fair value has been reached, the matter can be appealed to District Court. That process adds considerably to the cost for everyone. Generally, the attorneys come out ahead, the city ends up spending more tax dollars to obtain the needed property, and the property owner may not end up with much more than the original appraised value. The value NEVER goes the original appraised value, and if the condemnation jury awards more that becomes the new baseline, but just because those are higher that doesn't mean the property owner's net will be higher given the costs for attorneys and other representation.
If the values are low, it should be easy to understand that going through the condemnation process isn't beneficial to either the city or property owner, you're just making boat payments for your legal representative.
As to possible damages to your driveway, loss of trees etal, it's also beneficial to negotiate those up front. Depending on the situation, the city may agree to pay those costs up front if it's obvious that repairs will be necessary, such as that the driveway almost certainly will get crushed to oblivion by the construction. OTOH, if that's only a possibility, the city may not be willing to pay for damages that seem unlikely in the city's view. In such case you'll certainly want to take photos of the driveway etal, to document the pre-construction conditions. Be sure to document integrity, since driving heavy equipment over the driveway may cause cracking that may lead to future issues that aren't initially manifest.
