A Lorain County family was awarded more than $1 million after its land was seized by the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission to eliminate a highway bridge.
According to the family's attorney, Dennis O'Toole, the Turnpike Commission took control of .338 acres belonging to the Abraham family in Amherst.
The Turnpike sought to use the piece of land to fill in an area that went underneath the turnpike.
The family previously acquired the land years prior and used the gap to travel between two parcels of farmland it owned.
O'Toole said Turnpike officials initially offered the Abrahams $13,400 for the land, but when the family refused, it was seized by eminent domain. After the property was taken, Turnpike officials told the family it would only pay them $11,856, O'Toole said.
The Abrahams took the Turnpike Commission to court, and on Feb. 28 was awarded $1,092,081 in damages by a jury.
