To make way for this Home Depot in Pittsburg, Kan., the city earlier this year
condemned property that was formerly owned by local businessman Darrell Trent.
Posted on 12/08/2004 6:08:13 AM PST by OESY
...Desperate for tax revenue, cities and towns across the country now routinely take property from unwilling sellers to make way for big-box retailers. Condemnation cases aren't tracked nationally, but even retailers themselves acknowledge that the explosive growth of the format in the 1990s and torrid competition for land has increasingly pushed them into increasingly problematic areas -- including sites owned by other people...
[A] shareholder resolution: "adopt a policy for land procurement and use that incorporates social and environmental factors," particularly, the wishes of local property owners and community groups.... "If the company continues to operate in this manner, with the amount of publicity and protests, this could end up impacting shareholder value...."
Property-rights advocates say the use of condemnation for big boxes is an abuse of government power that subsidizes big retailers at original landowners' expense. "They're the new generation of robber barons...."
The U.S. Constitution and most state constitutions allow the government to take private property, with compensation, for a "public use." But courts over the years have allowed cities and towns to stretch the definition to include economic-development projects, on the principle that one private owner can better create jobs and increase tax revenue than another... and rejects as "simplistic" libertarian arguments that condemnations should be confined, as some property-rights advocates argue, to roads, bridges and purely public uses. He says communities, balancing their fiscal needs against the rights of a few....
Whether condemnees get full value for their property is a matter of bitter debate. Property owners invariably complain they are strong-armed into accepting low-ball offers....
Lately, cities' power to condemn property has come under increased legal scrutiny. In August, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed a landmark 1981 ruling, widely cited by other states, that effectively barred condemnations for purely economic purposes in that state....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
To make way for this Home Depot in Pittsburg, Kan., the city earlier this year
condemned property that was formerly owned by local businessman Darrell Trent.
However, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Those elected officials are responding to their voters. Voters want the welfarists (professional sponges), drunks, bums, prostitutes, pimps and drug addicts to continue being supported by their misplaced compassion.
They want all the usual services too.
Money has to come from somewhere. It won't come from the growing legions of NON workers who sponge off the taxpayers. It can't come from renters because of rent control. It can't come from homeowners because of caps on raping the homeowners. Businesses bail if THEIR taxes are too high. Where's it all to come from?
The BIG BOX stores are an ideal solution: big taxes and small prices.
Lol. THEN we whine when jobs are outsourced to foreigners. We TALK the talk about saving American jobs. We do a great job at sounding American. But our wallets to the REAL walking. We buy cheap and it DON'T matter from where the cheaper product comes from.
We could take a lesson from the Swiss. They buy Swiss, EVER IF IT COSTS MORE....JUST TO SUPPORT THEIR OWN.
OOooo, am I gonna get flamed for saying THAT.
That's a foolish suggestion, and makes very little economic sense.
That's what ED is for.
Flamed? Why? It makes sense to pay a few more dollars to get American made. Now, if I could only find something still made in the USA...
BTW: I have been to Switzerland. 1. As they do not produce much, they are heavily reliant on imported goods, including machinery, autos and food and 2. The various taxes and tariffs make such goods prohibitively expensive.
My wife and I try to buy American 'craftsmanship' before looking elsewhere. It's not easy to find. We wound up buying furniture from the Amish this year. It's truly remarkable stuff. Heirloom quality.
Frome the CaslteCoalition Website:
"The federal and state constitutions all say that property may only be condemned for "public use." For many years, governments applied that term to mean that property could be taken for things like roads, schools, and public buildings."
But if you let a couple of windows get broken on your building and Shazam!.....It's a slum. Condemn it and get a Costco in there, stat.
That begs the question: how long must it be owned by the government that condemns the property? Technically, for the period in which a public body (government) owns property it is in 'public use.' May it never sell it? Is there a constitutionally required period of time that it must hold it before it can sell it? These are the kind of questions that must be answered.
In Richfield Minnesota, Best Buy used the city government to aquire the property of 12 businesses and 64 low income homes. They built their monsterous World Headquarters on the property.
Here in southern california the Cypress city council took a church's land so they could give it to Costco.
http://www.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru021803.asp?/base/opinion/1040294072245580.xml
Those pesky 501c3's just don't generate any money for the politicians while Costco would generate lots of cash for the local hack politicians.
It's not just big box stores, anybody with lobbying might whoc can come up with a reason why they're good for the tax base can get city councils to use eminent domain for them. Ace Hardware and Walgreen (who are getting bigger and boxier) have had dramatic success with that in Tucson.
That's really not the issue because the church can relocate and again operate without property taxes. No, the issue is how long must a government hold a property to make it a taking for public use?
Really? That's not the issue? Only an intellectual or an attorney can be that obtuse.
What difference does it make how long a property is held by the government?
At issue is whether the "state" can take your property just because they think the new owner will make more money for them. That's it.
I wouldn't go as far as to say never, but you're correct; even if it holds it for an infinitesimal period of time, government-owned property is in public use.
Is there a constitutionally required period of time that it must hold it before it can sell it?
No. Perhaps there ought to be.
Clearly you're more concerned with your agenda than a discussion of the constitutional issues that such actions invoke. You really do a disservice to those of us that like to debate and pick apart an intellectually challenging issue. It's hard to have such a discussion with one with such a clouded and tainted outlook on the facts. Have a nice day.
Eventually, a court might read one in to the constitution. Here in Michigan our conservative supreme court 'overturned' the infamous "Poletown" case, where the mayor of Detroit was allowed to take private property for, I believe, a Chrysler car factory. I've not read the opinion but I would be interested to know if the answers to any of these questions are contained therein.
Every single defining characteristic of the relationship between a landlord and a tenant is present in the relationship betweeen government and property 'owners'.
Property tax is the rent you pay. If another renter is willing to pay a higher rent (more taxes), your landlord (government) will evict you (eminent domain) and rent to another tenant.
Zoning laws, building codes, etc... are the terms of your lease. If someone else controls what you can do with 'your' property, you don't own it.
Your purchase price is simply your security deposit. When you sell, you get it back if you took good care of your landlord's property.
Government ownership of all property is a defining characteristic of communism.
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