Most homeowners suing Mt. Pleasant over Foxconn settle out of court

More than half the houses suing Mount Pleasant for over the potential use of eminent domain to take their homes, have reached a settlement, according the village officials.

The village needs the land for the Foxconn development.

Dave Leicht lives across the street from the Foxconn development. He says there are definite pros and cons.

“From a job perspective, from a construction business perspective we’re thrilled," Leicht said. "But it’s just, it’s kind of like being next to a nuclear power plant. We all love it until we live right next to it and have to look at it every day.”

Mount Pleasant told some homeowners they had to move, but some were offered 5 times more money per acre than others.

“There’s a handful of property owners that are getting short changed,” Leicht said.

That’s why seven homeowners sued. The village argued houses near the road could be taken through eminent domain  for less money.

“They’re like me," Leicht said. "They want to leave too. But they want to leave at the right price, like the people around them are getting.”

Four of the seven suing have now decided to settle.

Leicht says the construction makes the project seem inevitable.

“They’re pushing it hard, and just the amount of work hours they’re doing. Like i said six days a week. Twelve hours a day.”

He says thing aren’t easy for people like him either, who want to sell a home now across the street from a major manufacturing plant.

“We just kind of have to deal with it, and hope the construction speeds up, and we can gets done, and we can move on with our lives.”

The homeowners who decided to sell say they are still technically part of the lawsuit until they sign the dotted line on the agreement, so they couldn’t go on camera. The village also declined to comment because of the pending litigation.