Allan Norville might be the master of his domain but the City of Tucson is threatening "eminent domain" against him.

Norville's plans to build a permanent building to replace the tent facility he has been using for the largest privately-hosted gem and mineral show is pitted against city's plans for a new civic plaza as part of Río Nuevo.

It's a real gem of a dilemma for the city's brand-new manager, Mike Hein, who will be at the negotiating table over the next 60 days.

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The Tucson City Council last week put a 60-day stay of execution on a proposed condemnation plan against Norville's vacant property on Granada Avenue south of Congress, giving him and the city time to come to a resolution. If the two sides don't agree, the city will push to take over the property for the planned civic plaza.

At issue are 4.15 acres of vacant land along Granada Avenue south of West Congress Street. Norville says he has been planning to build a permanent exhibition hall on the site to house his continually growing gem show. He had been running the show from under a temporary tent canopy.

The city says it was planning to use the land to build a civic plaza as part of the Río Nuevo downtown revitalization concept approved by voters in 1999.

Norville and city officials have had meetings to discuss options for use of his land, including a compromise idea where Norville's gem show stays on the property and the city gets its civic plaza. But negotiations have stalled.

"I wouldn't call them negotiations," Norville said. "We've had ‘meetings,' but the city hasn't been able to come with a single viable alternative. I've been willing to work with the city all through this process, but I'm sad that I got blind-sided by a condemnation notice."

Councilmember Fred Ronstadt, R-Ward 6, has been involved in the case since the beginning.

"I helped clear the decks in 1999 to have the civic plaza and Mr. Norville's gem show on the same site, but Mr. Norville walked away from the options," Ronstadt said. "My patience has run out on this issue; I think condemnation is overdue."

But at the city council's meeting last week it was Ronstadt who introduced the motion to delay the condemnation and put Hein in charge of negotiations from the city's side, replacing Assistant City Manager Karen Thoreson.

"You have 60 days, Mr. Norville. It's time to get this resolved," Ronstadt said at the meeting. "You hear me, Allan? Get this resolved."

Thoreson said Hein was to begin discussions with Norville this week, with meetings tentatively planned every two weeks.

Norville says Thoreson has not negotiated in good faith.

"The city has changed designers a couple of times, and every time I am in compliance with a plan, the plan changes," Norville said. "We've sat down for about 10 minutes in these meetings, and she has not come forward with any attempt to work this out. Instead, she pulls everything off the table and tries to say how it's going to happen. She has been impossible to work with."

But Norville said he was amenable to working with Hein, who has built a reputation for consensus-building in his previous positions with Pima County, Marana, Nogales and South Tucson.

"I certainly would like to work together (with the city)," Norville said. "I've been one of the biggest proponents of Río Nuevo and I want to see downtown revitalized. But I want there to be some legitimate negotiations, and I don't feel that that's happened."

"The civic plaza project will need to use his property," Thoreson said. "We will continue to negotiate, because we certainly understand that he runs a very successful gem show downtown. We have a focused plan and we are looking at three alternatives for that site."

When pressed by Councilmember Steve Leal, D-Ward 5, Thoreson told the council the option for Norville to continue owning the land was considered but didn't elaborate. She also acknowledged that Hargreaves Associates isn't scheduled to release its design plan until sometime next month. "There is a great deal at stake here," Leal said. "The city lacks certainty in this case. When a concept isn't due for 30 to 45 days, to seek condemnation seems really premature to me. I see this as heavy-handed and it's an abuse of our powers of eminent domain."

Randy Emerson, Río Nuevo development director, paints a different picture. He has been in on most of the meetings with Norville and the city.

"This has been a very cordial, civil process," he said, "but the bottom line in planning the civic plaza is that it's very difficult to work with his gem-show site. We've looked at options in our meetings, but Mr. Norville has not found any of the options to his liking.

"We want to preserve the gem show downtown; we think it's great for the downtown, but maybe not in that particular location. We'd like to give Mr. Norville a sufficient site downtown for his show, because we realize that his needs will get larger, not smaller."

When Leal asked Thoreson about the concept of the civic plaza plan, she said, "The scope of the civic plaza is in retail space, a hotel and a new arena adjacent to the Tucson Convention Center."

"What I understand the city wants to build on that site is the same sort of thing I want to build," Norville said. "Why can't we work together on this?" When asked about the condemnation, he said, "If it goes through, all my plans are dead - including the gem show."

David Woodburn may be contacted at dwoodburn@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4239.