In case you're tempted to think the horror that is the Kelo decision will have limited application in our real lives, consider this example of an eminent domain outrage that's been brewing here in South Florida (which is quickly becoming the land of overpriced homes, strip malls and Super Wal-Marts) even before the Supreme Court dropped its F-bomb ("F-you, homeowner") decision this week (thanks to R.I. for catching me up on this story):
In this case, the neighborhood slated for "economic development" is far from a decaying urban outpost, as the New London city officials have asserted in their television defenses of the SUPCO decision. The target in Florida is in middle class Hollywood, in the county just to the north of Miami. The Miami Herald picks it up from here:
Wed, Jun. 22, 2005
YOUNG CIRCLE PROJECT City set to seize disputed property
A developer who wants to build condominiums above the Great Southern Hotel and save portions of the historic Hollywood landmark now has the city's legal muscle behind his effort to acquire a downtown building which is key to his project.
After hours of debate and emotional pleas from residents, city commissioners voted 5-2 to use their powers of eminent domain, which allow governments and redevelopment agencies to ''take'' property for a public purpose.
''I thought it was a public purpose to preserve 50 percent of the Great Southern Hotel,'' said Vice Mayor Cathy Anderson.
Hollywood's downtown Community Redevelopment Agency is working on behalf of Southern Facilities Development, which plans to build Young Circle Commons, a 19-story building with about 200 condos and 25,000 square feet of commercial space.
The CRA will now attempt to negotiate with property owner, 1843 LLC. If negotiations break down, the CRA will file a lawsuit. A judge then rules whether the property can be taken and, if it can, a jury decides the compensation.
David Mach, manager of 1843 LLC, said although the city has been discussing the project for several years, his family has never been notified of any meeting or proceeding. City officials said there was no legal requirement to notify the property owner before eminent-domain proceedings begin.
Mach says he does not want to sell the 2,900-square-foot building at 1843 Harrison St. An April 29, 2005 appraisal, commissioned by the CRA, valued the property at $725,000. A Feb. 3, 2005 appraisal came in at $850,000.
''Not everyone can be bought,'' Mach said.
Before the vote, Hollywood beach resident Kerry Sisselman said she was alarmed by the city's decision. She wondered if the city would target the T-shirt shops or Angelo's Pizza on the beach in the name of redevelopment.
''What will happen to my home on Hollywood beach?'' Sisselman asked. ``Will there be a line drawn once this precedent is set?''
The city had been awaiting the Kelo decision in hopes it would bolster their case. They clearly got their wish. (article contains pics, if you don't want to register, here's the print-friendly version.)
The irony is that these CRA's (community development agencies) take state and federal money, and come in under the guise of salvaging communities for the benefit of residents, but more often than not, the "public good" they're serving comes in the form of a baseball stadium, luxury condo's or strip malls, which mainly benefit middle and upper-class residents who move in, or wealthy developers who make a killing on the property. I can't tell you how many decaying neighborhoods are quickly turning into prime pieces of real estate in South Florida, simply due to the combination of their location and the diminishing acreage of developable land in this real estate boom-town.
How the "liberals" and moderates on the Court could have thought that siding with wealthy developers over property owners bears any resemblance to advancing the public good is beyond me. As one letter writer to the Herald put it on Friday, clearly, in Florida (and apparently, everywhere else, "developers rule."
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
