Posted on 01/04/2007 5:19:13 AM PST by spintreebob
A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS TO FIGHT EMINENT DOMAIN
As many of you may know, the Village of Arlington Hts. intends to use its eminent domain authority to seize the property of small business owners and turn it over to a big box retailer along with 19 millions dollars of “revenue sharing”. We can stop this! We MUST stop this.
This Saturday and Sunday, we need you to make the time to join with us as we go door to door into the neighborhoods of Arlington Hts. and tell residents what their very own government is doing. Specifically, we will be conducting a simple four question door to door survey to identify which voters believe in protecting private property rights in America. I’ll provide a quick 10 minute training session and we’ll send people out in small groups. It will be about 3 hours of door knocking followed by a rip roarin’ pizza party. As my friend David would say, “This is your chance to be a real cool activist”.
WHAT: Neighborhood Canvassing to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
WHEN: Saturday & Sunday January 6&7 Report between 11am to 12:30pm
WHERE: International Plaza-- Oak Furniture Creations Storefront 214 E Golf Rd, Arlington Hts, 60005 (near northeast corner of Arlington Hts & Golf Roads) WHY: Because this is America! ….not CUBA!!!!
I urge you, with all of my heart, to come out one or both days if you can to help these very brave small business owners. PLEASE call me on my cell phone if you have questions or need more information. Scott Bludorn 847 845-7935
I love you all and I REALLY need each and every one of you to come help us. This is urgent.
We're good but can you really fight city hall?
I'll try to,
"We're calling up the militia" as the kid told the church in the movie "The Patriot".
What good's the militia if they don't show up?
We not only can fight city hall;
we plan to replace them with freedom lovers.
It's time to seize the moment.
All right you go guy!
Please join us
Sat & Sun 11 AM Dress warm... be thankful for global warming.
International Plaza is first shopping center on North side of Golf Rd (Hwy 58) just East of Arlington Hts Rd.
From Chicago, get off the NW Tollway at Arlington Hts Rd. Go North on Arlington Hts Rd to the 2d big intersection, which is Golf. Turn right. Go 500 feet. Turn Left into the International Plaza Shopping Center.
Let's go baby
The 208 bus goes there. I won't have a car this weekend so I mightbe able to make it.
Without you, we miss a key ingredient.
I'll help on Sunday.
Not so fast.
I live in the area. The shopping mall in discussion has been an eyesore for more than 10 years. It costs the township money by failing to generate tax revenue (i.e., we have to make it up with higher taxes).
This is a premium spot that is vastly underdeveloped and has lost lots of solid tenants because the place is poorly managed and maintained. I am not thrilled that Target will be the main store, but it seems a useful anchor. Note that the tax benefits are a freeze on rate hikes rather than a give away. This is a common tool for suburban redevelopment. It worked well on the north side of Arlington Heights.
Also note that the mall owners tried and failed to sue on the basis of racial discrimination because many of the small businesses are Korean owned. They lost all of my sympathy by playing the race card.
Lesson: before you jump on the band wagon, look at who's driving it. I wonder if they have vested interests rather than an anti-big government focus.
Hey Bob ... let's take a vote and turn over neocon's house to CL ... she'd probably make better use of it ... make no nevermind that he thinks he actually owns it.
A little information might help.
The issue is not about taking away homes (like the Kelo decision). To my knowledge, Arlington Heights has never exercised eminent domain over homes. It is not trying to do so now. It's an issue of increasing business tax revenue to limit the taxes that home owners pay. IMO, the vast majority of Arlington Heights residents support the town's actions.
The value of our homes increase with a solid tax base and more useful and attractive shopping and cultural centers. The downtown area has been dramatically transformed over tha past 10 years with this in mind.
BTW, I am a man not a woman. Your catty assumption suggests that you may have some gender confusion or maybe you were just a wuss who was too fat and slow to make the high school football team. It's too late to make up for it now buddy.
No one suggested you were either a man or a woman ... and I'm not sure that you qualify in either case ... well, perhaps as a man, but certainly not a gentleman. My post suggested your home be confiscated and turned over to CL (as in ChicagoLady who is well known on this board).
I can see no difference between confiscating PRIVATE property, whether it be from a homeowner of a developer.
Arlington Hts confiscated both homes and businesses in the downtown TIF, which has so far been a financial failure and burden on the taxpayers. A minor point, the "homes" taken were not detached single family homes.
Neo brought up the race card, the gender card, etc.
There is no way International Plaza can be described as "blighted". It has a higher occupancy rate than 70% of the shopping centers inthe NW burbs. It clearly has a better appearance than the dirty looking Jewel to west of Arlington Hts or the uncoordinated signage on the South side of Golf. But that also is irrelevant.
The Constitution clearly says this can't be done. That the Supremes have (temporarily) found a new penumbra never before seen in the Constitution is irrelevant.
The simple fact is that it is morally and legally wrong for the government to forcibly take one person's private property and give it to another private person (In this case Dem Sen Mark Dayton).
Allegedly the government will pay the fair market value for property in eminent domain. By definition, fair market value is what a willing and able buyer and a willing and able seller agree to be the fair market value. By taking the "willing" out of the picture, a fair market value is impossible.
If fair market value were to be paid, it would be simpler for Target to find out what it would take for those already at that location to be willing to sell. That Dem Sen Mark Dayton's Target is not willing to do this indicates that they are not willing to pay fair market value and are seeking a subsidy from the government.
Welfare for the poor is bad enough. But why should we pay welfare to the rich who are so rich they are able to buy a Democrat seat in the US Senate?
I drove by there 10 minutes ago. It's blighted. It looks nothing like the pictures. (Have you ever bought real estate based on pictures?). In fairness, you might have also posted the long abandoned gas station and the mostly empty ArlinGolf plaza that are part of the project. You might have shown the abandoned Oak Creations store (the most visible location in the mall) which took over the spot that Pier One previously left.
The restaurant you showed in the picture is the 3rd one there in the past 5-6 years. Also, most of the businesses are hardly booming. There is very little traffic in and out of the mall, except the western corner which has a Blockbusters and Sbarros Pizza. Both chains can be located almost anywhere, maybe even in the new development.
As to downtown AH (a work in progress), the high rise condos are worth twice the price of 5 years ago. As I recall, AH bought homes from people in the area, but they did not exercise the powers of eminent domain. If you have more specific information, I will stand corrected.
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