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The owners of a recently demolished restaurant and antique store in southern Indiana are accusing city officials of damaging their properties through negligence and failing to reimburse them for the costs.
The owners of Stoners Grill and SassaFrassy’s, two businesses in downtown Boonville, filed a complaint against the city and a local construction crew in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Monday, alleging that the local government unlawfully took their property — a potential violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause.
According to court documents, in early April 2025, the city awarded Jerry Aigner Construction Inc., a local construction business, a contract to demolish a city-owned building at 215 S. Third St. in Boonville. The 215 building had been deteriorating for years, so the city bought it in 2024 to redevelop the downtown area, the complaint stated.
Aigner was set to begin demolishing the 215 building around April 29, 2025. But on April 30, the 215 building collapsed, severely damaging neighboring businesses, including the neighboring Sassafrassy’s and Stoners Grill buildings. Julia Harris, a named plaintiff in the lawsuit who was renting an apartment in SassaFrassy’s building at the time, also lost her leasehold interests and property, according to the complaint.
After the collapse, the city condemned the property owners’ buildings without notice or hearing, the complaint stated. The city later ordered the owners to repair or demolish their buildings or else face significant fines.
Last fall, the buildings were demolished. Both businesses had been in operation for 10 years before the condemnation.
“It’s kind of bittersweet today to see the buildings come down and everything, but you gotta take them down before progress can be made,” Boonville Mayor Charlie Wyatt said after the Stoners and SassaFrassy buildings were demolished, according to WFIE.
The owners and Harris now assert that the city intentionally condemned their properties so that it could acquire them for redevelopment.
City attorney Mark Phillips was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.
Officials with Aigner Construction did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.
The owners assert that the city’s actions constitute a physical taking under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, which provides that the government cannot take private property for public use without paying a “just compensation.”
The courts have ruled that local governments are generally protected from Fifth Amendment takings claims when the taking was undertaken to benefit the public, such as through certain law enforcement actions or for development purposes – though there are exceptions. If a government is found to be required to compensate for a taking, it generally must pay the property’s market value.
Taken property does not only include that which is physically removed – damaged property can also fall under the takings umbrella.
The case is Stoners Grill, LLC, et al. v. City of Boonville and Jerry Aigner Construction, Inc. (3:26-cv-00100-RLY-MJD). The case has been reassigned to Magistrate Judge Mark Dinsmore.
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