(a) Where there are several tracts of land lying within one county of which portions are proposed to be taken, or in which an interest or easement is proposed to be acquired, the plaintiff may join them all in separate paragraphs in the same complaint.
(b) If there are several distinct tracts of land owned, claimed, or held by different persons embraced in the complaint, the owners of each tract or other party interested therein may have a separate hearing as to the right to condemn their lands, and the probate court may, if it finds that the application should be granted as to some and not as to other of the owners or other parties, make and enter its decree accordingly.