Will he be forced out? (Disabled Vet's homestead to be first in FL history taken by eminent domain)

The Golden Gate Gazette ^ | Kaydee Tuff

[AAABEST]

Jesse Hardy's fight to keep his 160 acres in the Southern Golden Gate Estates will return to Tallahassee, Apr. 13, for a final hearing before the Florida Cabinet.

"It's possible the Cabinet could defer it again, but we're confident they will approve eminent domain," says Kathalyn Gaither, land acquisition public information officer for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Located in what is called the "Hole in the Donut," the property is part of the state's 55,000-acre buy-out to restore natural water flows to the Southern Golden Gate Estates (SGGE), once slated for development.

Hardy has owned the property for 28 years. He is the last of thousands of individual property owners whose land was targeted for the Picayune Strand State Forest. What began as a willing seller program turned into condemnation when the project was tied to the $100 million Everglades water restoration project in the late 1990s.

If the state condemns Hardy's land, it will be the first time in Florida history that a homesteaded property has been taken for environmental purposes.

Gaither says if Hardy does not take the $1.5 million offer that's on the table, the selling price will go back to the state's original offer of $909,158 if the Cabinet and Governor approve eminent domain.

The 67-year-old Florida native says he doesn't care - the property is not for sale at any price. A disabled Navy SEAL who has never lived an easy life, he says he's not interested in a condo on the beach or living in an urban setting.

"It's my home and it means more to me than the money. If it (condemnation) was for something useful to the public health and well-being, like a school, a fire station, or a hospital, I would move with no problem," he says.

Although he is skeptical of the success of portions of the rehydration plan, Hardy maintains he supports the project. He says his land is not necessary to the restoration project and he will not be adversely affected by it.

"I'm not against any of the environmentalists' work to rehydrate the Southern Golden Gate Estates," he says. "I'm all for it. I just want to keep my home."

Gaither says Hardy's land is necessary to the project.

"The South Florida Water Management District has conducted modeling that shows that even if there is no flooding on his property, there will be no roads and there will be demolition all around him, posing safety concerns," she says.

Hardy, who once sold real estate for Golden Gate Estates' developer Gulf American Corporation (GAC), homesteaded his rustic property in 1976. With the exception of an excavation pond underway, the property looks very much the same today as it did 28 years ago.

Using propane and a gas-powered generator, he lives in a tiny wood frame home with a friend he took in and her handicapped eight-year-old son.

"Living here is what has kept me going," he says. "It's my home. I'm too old to go anywhere else."

Hardy continues to hold out. One year ago, the governor and Cabinet were asked to initiate condemnation proceedings on his property. Instead, they instructed DEP land acquisition agents to continue to try to negotiate a deal.

Hardy and Gaither both agree that no progress has been made over the past year.

"If I let them get away with it, and they take my home for environmental reasons, then every homeowner in the state of Florida will be in jeopardy," he says. "There's nothing to restore on my land - nothing but pine and Sabal palm. It's my home - it's just that simple - and I won't give it up. I will fight to the very end. I will spend every nickel I've got and can get to fight this."

Hardy will not be attending the hearing in Tallahassee, but will be represented by his attorney. He says it is too emotional of an issue for him. He is also undergoing cancer treatment after having been diagnosed with the disease in November.

He is hopeful area residents will show their support by writing letters asking the governor not to grant the DEP eminent domain and allow him to keep his land.

Estates resident Cindy Kemp, founding member of the Property Rights Action Committee (PRAC), says the group fully backs Hardy. The group created and is distributing brochures on his plight and is promoting his cause through a song, "The Ballad of Jesse Hardy," written by a friend of Hardy and sung by Estates resident Bill Lhota.

"It's not right what they're doing to Jesse," she says. "We're hoping residents will understand how this ultimately affects them and their Constitutional rights."

Hardy hired an engineer to complete a study that shows the elevation of his property at 12 feet. At that height, he says his property will never be affected by the restoration project and he doesn't understand why the state is insisting on buying him out.

Nearly three years ago, Collier County gave Hardy the go-ahead to build the first of four proposed 20-acre ponds to create a fish farm, which he would like to one day open to the public for recreational fishing.

Several environmental groups including the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Collier County Audubon Society opposed the concept, but agreed to support the construction of one 20-acre pond. Any future excavation will have to be re-approved by the county this spring.

In that time, Hardy says he has dug about seven of the 20 acres of the pond. He has also completed and stocked a smaller pond, which he uses to gauge water quality and predator issues. Fill from excavation of the ponds has been purchased by the county for road building.

Hardy says his dream is to one day open his piece of paradise up to the public to fish the ponds and enjoy what he has loved for 27 years.

DEP officials say that dream is unlikely. Gaither says once eminent domain is approved, it will take six months to a year to find Hardy a place to live.

"I've already got a place to live," Hardy says. "They can look all they want - they'll never find another place like this. It's my home and there's no other place like it."

To contact the Governor email jeb.bush@myflorida.com, call 850-488-4441 or fax 850-487-0801.

[cinFLA]

But not a single fact in your post. Your credibility drops with every post.

[AAABEST]

You need to take your pills, you sound like you're going to hurt yourself.

[cinFLA]

You need to take your pills, you sound like you're going to hurt yourself.

I see. I post a couple of simple, innocent posts and you go on a tirade against me and I am the one that needs to take my pills? In my simple posts, I posted more facts than you have in all your tirades.

Seems to me you have an agenda and truth is not included in it.

[r9etb]

The solution could be to grant him a "life estate" after the taking, paying a portion of the value up front while he is allowed to live in the property until he dies. The property then reverts to the state and the balance of the payment to his estate.

Which sounds like a reasonable compromise, assuming that Mr. Hardy does not require a road to get to his property. The land has been like this for decades already, so a few more years probably wouldn't hurt, unless there's something about the idea that makes the overall plan unworkable.

Along those lines, it sounds like there's an issue with roads -- there apparently won't be any that go to his house. He'd probably need to rely on a boat to reach the property.

[longtermmemmory]

If the government was smart they would have simply found him like property as part of the settlement and left him in the same position.

The everglades restoration is a complete joke. It is being used by envirowacko groups to stop people from using property they have owned and force them out of their homes.

I say if they need his property THAT much he has to be paid even more. This needs to be looked at from the perspective of keeping the man intact. It is neat territory there, I understand why he does not want to sell.

The problem is that the state is offering the wrong payment.

The other issue is the fact that it is very difficult to find such large sections of land these days. In one area the undeveloped land literally doubled in one year when demand for non association custom building homes became heavy.

I am curious why there has been no effort to compensate the man with like property?

[cinFLA]

Here is the post that set off AAA's tirade of name calling against me. Imagine what would have happened if I had come out with an agenda against poor ol' Mr. Hardy.

---

He could buy this, build his house and still have 1.49 million left!

Florida Properties For Sale:
Florida, United States



Type of Property:
undeveloped land
recreational property
residential land
Irrigated: No
Residence: No
Total Acres: 30.00
Cropland Acres:0.00

Asking Price: $75,000

Price Per Acre: $2,500



Notes: 30 diverse, beautiful acres, commuting distance to Tallahassee, $75,000.

[AAABEST]

What I called a canard was his claim that he's "too old to move" (he's not), and that his only choices were to live on this property, or "in a condo on the beach, or an urban setting" ($1.5 million would give him a lot more options than those.) I find it difficult to square such "poor, pitiful me" claims with the rough, tough fellow Mr. Hardy appears to be.

The reason why you think this is because you don't know what you're talking about.

He was dropped out of a helicopter traveling over 60 MPH and was busted up enough to get 100% disability. He also has cancer.

Did you read the article?

Click the logo to apply:

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Many prayers for all of you as you begin this new chapter in your lives. We also continue to pray for you as you grieve for your Dad and husband. We pray for your health concerns Jeff, may God bless all your concerns, comfort you and provide the answers in the days and years ahead.

[csivils]

I registered just to reply to this post. I don't think you understand the whole picture.

I've had a house condemed by the core of engineers before. The process was horrible, full of lies and deception by the county government and drug out over a 3 year period. I agree that the article doesnt tell the whole story, I'm sure its much worse than as depicted.

I can understand someone not wanting to move. I loved the land I lived on before, it was wooded property between two creeks... its beautiful. At the end of a bitter battle, I lost the house structure, but ended up keeping the land. My family bought the ruined house next door to the land, and as we save money my family is fixing it up. It sounds like a story book ending, but the path there was rough. I almost cried the day my youngest daughter asked me "Daddy, will we always be fighting the county?". She had never known anything other than us being tight on money and stressed.

Then why fight? Because some things are not for sale... I paid $25 for the marriage liscence to my wife. No amount of money could convince me to leave her. My marriage isn't for sale... And neither is my home.

I'm surpised a conservative would have any trouble understanding something not being for sale to the government.

Craig

p.s. The experience did help my 4 daughter understand why we are conservatives.

[longtermmemmory]

easment by adverse possession if he has had access to such a land locked property.

I believe the problem is the envirowakos who have pushed this project from day one. They are of the opinion that no humans should ever be allowed in park areas. I do believe you have a very valid legal suggestion which HAS BEEN USED IN THE PAST IN OTHER NATIONAL PARK AREAS. Usually with an old person who has no family and has lived in a parkland from before the park was a park.

We have to keep in mind in these proceedings it is not an environmental issue. It is an issue of private real estate property rights vs the communism of no real estate property rights. Lest we forget the environmental movement has consumed all the left over commies into its membership.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Boy, many prayers going up for Jesse RIGHT now!!

He has enough on his plate as it is. He SURE doesn't need the added stress of fighting this battle!

Will blast off an e-mail and make a phone call as a fellow disabled vet. Putting this kind of stress on someone so sick is inhumane. I can't believe Jeb Bush would participate in this kind of thing. Sounds like a runaway State ROW department to me!!

Until it happens I'm going to put the pressure on the Governors office and believe Jeb Bush will make this right.

[B4Ranch]

July 22, 1976
U.S. Backs U.N. Plan to Control Land
http://www.eco.freedom.org/el/20040401/ui1976.shtml

[AAABEST]

You two are blessed for being there when someone needs you.

I'm not the best messenger for this by any means, which is why your assistance is appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time, prayers and help.

[Ben Bolt]

Are you not familiar with what ED is and how it is easily applied ?

[B4Ranch]

"an offer of $1.5 million is not really a "land grab,""

Money is more important to you than rights. Common thinking amongst todays people. You should hope you don't have a rare blood type.

[B4Ranch]

SEARCH

SITEMAP

Environment and Human Settlements SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNECE REGION Introduction UNECE activities related to Sustainable Development ECE’s role in the regional follow-up to WSSD First Regional Implementation Forum on Sustainable Development Introduction The UNECE region includes some of the richest economies and some of the poorest nations in the world; those with long and strong democratic traditions and others in transition form centrally planned regimes to more open market-economy-based societies; those with environments almost completely altered by humans and those with still large proportions of their territory under natural and semi-natural conditions; those with more innovative economies and those with traditional production economies; those in advance in implementing policy reforms towards a more sustainable development and those clearly lagging behind. These differences are a big challenge for the region. The importance of integrating sustainable development into ECE’s work has been repeatedly emphasized by member States. The 1997 Plan of Action stressed the importance of introducing the outlook for sustainable development in all relevant ECE activities, noting that it was “particularly relevant for ECE work” and should “permeate all its activities”. More recently, in 2002, the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development stated that the “implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the Summit should be effectively pursued at the regional and subregional levels, through the regional commissions and other regional and subregional institutions and bodies". The Summit also called on the regional commissions to promote the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development into their work in a balanced way and to facilitate and promote such integration into the work of regional, subregional and other bodies “for example by facilitating and strengthening the exchange of experiences, including national experience, best practices, case studies and partnership experience related to the implementation of Agenda 21”. In this connection, the Commission for Sustainable Development, at its session in May 2003 also invited the Regional Commissions to consider organizing regional implementation meetings in collaboration with other regional and subregional organizations. The recently concluded fifth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" requested the UNECE, in cooperation with other relevant organizations and institutions to assist in “assessing progress in the implementation of environmental commitments of this region emanating from the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation as well as the UNECE Regional Preparatory Meeting for WSSD.” The Declaration went on to state that the results of this work “should feed into regional implementation meetings organized in preparation for the UNCSD meetings as recommended by UNCSD at its 11th session”. UNECE activities related to Sustainable Development Given the above, the “mainstreaming” of sustainable development in all ECE activities has been actively pursued within ECE. One indicator of achievement for Executive Direction and Management is the extent to which sustainable development is incorporated into the relevant ECEs areas of work. ECE already has a significant number of ongoing activities related to sustainable development. Among the recurrent ones: - The development of standards and recommendations in transport that aim at reducing the negative impact of transport on the environment e.g. in the areas of vehicle construction, transport of dangerous goods, combined transport - The development and implementation of the five ECE environmental conventions and related protocols - The environmental performance reviews - Activities relating to the "Environment for Europe" Process - Working with cities and local authorities to improve urban environmental performance and promote the integration of land use and local transport policies. - Promotion of the use of energy efficient technology and energy efficiency investment projects - Promotion of clean coal technology and the role of coal in sustainable development - Promotion of sustainable forest management In addition to the above continuing recurrent activities, a number of new sustainable development issues are being taken up. These include, for example, statistical indicators for assessing progress in sustainable development; analytical studies covering progress made in achieving sustainable development in the region; promotion of renewable energy; and trade and environment. Some of these issues have been further discussed and specified at the first meeting of the ECE senior management group on sustainable development, established by the Executive Secretary, which took place in May 2003. ECE’s role in the regional follow-up to WSSD The Johannesburg plan of implementation and the CSD-11 resolution highlight the specific role of the Regional Commissions in the monitoring and implementation of WSSD, and request them to cooperate with the other regional and subregional organizations for this purpose. This is a long-standing practice of ECE and number of the organizations, groupings and initiatives have been involved in the two most recently held high-level meetings convened by the ECE: the Ministerial Preparatory Meeting for WSSD (Geneva, September 2001) and the "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference (Kiev, May 2003). At the substantive level, these meetings will focus, during the implementation year of each cycle, on the three thematic clusters as identified in the multi-year programme of work decided by the CSD, namely, in 2004-2005, water, human settlements and sanitation. The First Regional Implementation Forum on Sustainable Develpment Following the decisions of the eleventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-11), the Economic Commission for Europe at its Ad Hoc Informal meeting on 2 September 2003, decided to hold the First Regional Implementation Forum on 15-16 January 2004 in Geneva. This meeting will evaluate progress made in implementing sustainable development goals and identifying obstacles and constraints in the areas of water, human settlements and sanitation. The outcomes of the meeting would provide substantial inputs to the Review Year of the "Implementation Cycles" and would contribute to CSD-12. HOME UNDSD

 

Last updated: ©2004 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations
8-14, avenue de la Paix - 1211 Geneve 10
fax: 00 41 22 917 01 07

[r9etb]

Money is more important to you than rights. Common thinking amongst todays people. You should hope you don't have a rare blood type.

Apparently you need to refresh your memory:

The 5th Amendment states: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Regardless of the merits of this particular case, the Constitution clearly does allow for the exercise of eminent domain, and $1.5 million does qualify as "compensation." So at first glance, this appears to fit the form of a Constitutional action.

What appears to be at issue here is more a resistance to a particular environmental project. That's a greyer area, and I find this particular article to be rather slanted toward a particular point of view. I'm willing to believe that Mr. Hardy's case is not as clear-cut as this article makes it out to be, and that the State of Florida's reasons are better than they're being made out to be.

[Ben Bolt]

Bump for knowledge .

[cinFLA]

Are you not familiar with what ED is and how it is easily applied ?

Huh? Have you stopped beating your wife?

[cinFLA]

I'm sure its much worse than as depicted.

Then please enlighten us. AAA has done nothing to enlighten, unless one considered demonizing lies enlightening.