I've seen an unscrupulous builder calmly fill wetlands THEN approach the county for building permits, and a county claim property under eminent domain then do absolutely nothing with it once they have it. With this latest Supreme Court ruling, if the community can show that there is an economic benefit (such as an improved tax base) then they can take the land (unless your state law says differently). But since housing is a wash as far as taxes are concerned, taking a house just to build another house isn't good enough (so they say, anyway).

Here in Fort Worth near where I live there was a holdout on some acreage in the path of a busy boulevard, but the city eventually won. I was torn on the decision--the road makes travel much more convenient, but I could get to the same place by a different road and I did enjoy looking across the remnant piece of prairie while I was driving around it. Now some builder's toadstool houses are popping up shoulder-to-shoulder (5' setback in Fort Worth makes those houses awfully crowded) along that road.

If you enjoy the place where you're living, I'd go with the advice of some above, and get the best price you can as soon as you can. Then move somewhere far away so you don't go past this place regularly to see the mess they make of it. Otherwise, it'll at worst break your heart, or if you're luckier, just annoy the heck out of you.

SRS