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Posted on 06/24/2005 8:16:19 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Freeport moves to seize 3 properties Court's decision empowers the city to acquire the site for a new marina By THAYER EVANS Chronicle Correspondent
FREEPORT - With Thursday's Supreme Court decision, Freeport officials instructed attorneys to begin preparing legal documents to seize three pieces of waterfront property along the Old Brazos River from two seafood companies for construction of an $8 million private boat marina.
The court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that cities may bulldoze people's homes or businesses to make way for shopping malls or other private development. The decision gives local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.
"This is the last little piece of the puzzle to put the project together," Freeport Mayor Jim Phillips said of the project designed to inject new life in the Brazoria County city's depressed downtown area.
Over the years, Freeport's lack of commercial and retail businesses has meant many of its 13,500 residents travel to neighboring Lake Jackson, which started as a planned community in 1943, to spend money. But the city is hopeful the marina will spawn new economic growth.
"This will be the engine that will drive redevelopment in the city," City Manager Ron Bottoms said.
Lee Cameron, director of the city's Economic Development Corp., said the marina is expected to attract $60 million worth of hotels, restaurants and retail establishments to the city's downtown area and create 150 to 250 jobs. He said three hotels, two of which have "high interest," have contacted the city about building near the marina.
"It's all dependent on the marina," Cameron said. "Without the marina, (the hotels) aren't interested. With the marina, (the hotels) think it's a home run."
Since September 2003, the city has been locked in a legal battle to acquire a 300-by-60-foot tract of land along the Old Brazos River near the Pine Street bridge as well as a 200-foot tract and 100-foot tract along the river through eminent domain from Western Seafood Co. and Trico Seafood Co.
Eminent domain is the right of a government to take private property for public use upon payment of the fair market value.
The tracts of land would be used for a planned 800- to 900-slip marina to be built by Freeport Marina, a group that that includes Dallas developer Hiram Walker Royall. He would buy the property from the city and receive a $6 million loan from the city to develop the project.
Freeport Marina would then invest $1 million in the project and contribute a 1,100-foot tract of land, valued at $750,000, to it before receiving the loan.
Western Seafood spokesman Wright Gore III said the wholesale shrimp company was disappointed with the Supreme Court decision, but believes the ruling does not apply to the city's eminent domain proceedings.
He said there is a provision in state law that allows residents of a city to a circulate a petition to call a vote on whether the city can take property using eminent domain.
"(This) is far, far from over," Gore said. "(We) would have liked to have seen a victory on the federal level, but it is by no means a settled issue."
Gore said Western Seafood's 30,000-square-foot processing facility, which sits on the 300-by-60-foot tract, would be forced to close if the land were seized.
That facility earns about $40 million annually, and Western Seafood has been in business in Freeport since 1946, he said.
City officials, however, have said the marina will still allow Western Seafood and Trico Seafood, which did not return telephone calls or e-mail Thursday, to operate their facilities.
In August, U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent ruled against a lawsuit filed by Western Seafood seeking to stop the city's eminent domain proceedings. The seafood company then appealed its case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a request that initially was denied.
The appeals court then decided it would take the case, but not rule on it until after the Supreme Court made a ruling on the New London, Conn., case.
I'm sick.
Moral Absolutes Ping.
I consider it immoral to steal private property for the so-called public good of someone making more money out of said property.
Apparently 5 fiends who wear black robes are intent on turning all the rules inside out.
I won't ping any more articles about this, I figured this was representative.
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
Note: My only hope is that with decisions this insane, this evil, this obviously fascistic and anti- Constitutional, that more people will wake up, more people will decide "enough is enough" and do something. What, is the question.
its the next president who will shape the supreme court, because if you look at the 5 who pushed this decision through - none of them will retire under Bush 43. Bush will get to replace OConnor and Rehnquist only.
the president elected in 2008 will play for all the marbles regarding the SCOTUS, likely replacing 2 of the 5 who voted for this decision (the same 5 who will allow gay marriage by the way). those 2 replacements in the 2008-2012 time frame are critical.
Wow, another Democratic City in Texas.
I agree. Unless something happens to one or more of them in the next couple of years. Do you happen to know how old these 5 are?
I'm not saying I'm wishing any of them ill. In fact, I'm wishing them an early and peaceful retirement.
Isn't Ginsberg up in her 70s? And not in the best of health?
"Private property rights- a worthy hill to die on."
Man, I don't know. I got flamed on a thread this morning for being one of those gung-ho people who's just iching to start a war. When I said that there are worse things than dying in a just fight, all I got in response was, "Oh, puhleese!" in a very condecending tone. Better know where your neighbors stand before going up to the roof.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Mr. Hiram Walker Royall is a rich man. A very, very rich man. 34-year-old Walker is the heir to two family fortunes:
- The Hiram Walker whiskey distilleries, and
- The Humble Oil Company (now ExxonMobil).
He boasted to his friends in high school that he inherited $16 million through his trust fund on his 18th birthday. He now lives in Dallas in this $1.25 million dollar home.
http://www.dallascad.org/AcctPhoto.aspx?ID=60084500910010000
Walker drives a $67,500 BMW 850 and a $72,000 Range Rover owned by his company, Briarwood Capital.
Around October 2002, Walker also inherited a large amount of waterfront property in Freeport, as well as the former Intermedics site. He hasn't exactly spent much money or effort beautifying his property, as shown below:
http://tinyurl.com/a2lkv
If you clicked on the information about Walker's $1.25 million house in Dallas, you may have learned of the separate Servant's Quarters building behind his house. That is exactly how Walker thinks of Freeport residents—as his servants.
Walker would not have to pay any property taxes to the City on his proposed yacht basin. He would get a free ride by the City basically forever. See his Development Agreement for more details.
If you can't afford to hire an eminent domain lawyer, that's your problem. The City is even using your tax dollars to pay for its lawyers to fight you in Court.
http://www.kissyourhomegoodbye.com/learn2.html
Yeah, like they're going to let a stinky shrimp processing plant operate right next door to their upscale waterfront development. The next move will be to shut it down as a public nuisance.
And this is in supposedly conservative Texas.
Yeah, but since the President has been silent on the issue, and his spokesman dodged the question when pointedly asked, I don't think there's going to be much help from the White House.
BTW I googled up this website on the Freeport controversy.http://www.scandalinfreeport.com/
It occurs to me that the Democrats could make Mr H. Walker Royall their poster boy for reinstitution of the Death Tax. I'd like to see how long that SOB would last if he actually had to do a day's work for once in his life.
It also occurs to me that the owners should let slip that the property has some toxic waste issues. That should tie things up for a few years.
Lame duck president
"Note: My only hope is that with decisions this insane, this evil, this obviously fascistic and anti- Constitutional, that more people will wake up, more people will decide "enough is enough" and do something.
What, is the question."
This is happening all over the US. It is crystal clear that the corporations, and the governments in their pockets, have been watching this case, quietly laying their plans, and are now moving quickly to take advantage of this ruling.
I suggest that avail ourselves of military training, that we arm and equip ourselves, that we keep every action within the bounds of law until and unless action becomes the only hope to protect our freedoms.
I suggest that we organize so that adequate force is available on demand, without committing ourselves irrevocably to revolution, which will only open us to legal disarmament before we are ready, and that in the event that violence becomes our only option, we think and act strategically, not tactically.
Defending a single house will not win this fight.
I don't need to tell you what the obvious targets would need to be, hypothetically speaking, of course.
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