Town makes sure its boat slips stick.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

"I think it's highway robbery." That's Topsail Beach Mayor Butch Parrish's opinion of municipalities using eminent domain--forcing property owners to sell land to the government--for private projects. But he has no qualms about using it to prevent his town's loss of a vital privately owned amenity.

In May, town commissioners condemned Bush Marina and adjacent property owned by William Lee on the barrier island's sound side. If Lee had sold the property for development, the town would have lost its only boat ramp, a big negative for tourism in a coastal community. Topsail Beach plans to operate the marina.

The land, which Lee bought two years ago for $800,000, is four lots totaling about 32,000 square feet. His Raleigh lawyer, Kieran Shanahan, says other potential buyers offered Lee, a Johnston County tobacco farmer, more than twice the town's best cash offer of $2 million.

Things grew complicated when the town botched its first chance to buy the marina. Last year, Lee signed a contract to sell it for $2 million, but the town couldn't close by the Nov. 4 date in the contract.

Parrish says the town missed the date because it was waiting for state grants that would have covered $500,000 of the purchase. "The lead time was three months. We had these grants approved but couldn't close on the property until we had the contracts in hand." They didn't come until...