Posted on 03/20/2014 4:37:10 AM PDT by Mean Daddy
It has been a little over eight years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided that homeowners in New London, Conn., had no property rights. In 2005 residents in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London were told they had to abandon their homes so the city’s government could demolish them and hand the property over to developers to build hotels, health clubs and new condominiums.
(Excerpt) Read more at opposingviews.com ...
Maybe we need to send these articles to the 9 Justices, along with the article showing medical costs rising 50% since Obamacare.
My what a great job they’re doing.
I would imagine the New London taxpayers are on the hook for the cost of displacing those homeowners?
From wiki
The controversy was eventually settled when the city paid substantial additional compensation to the homeowners and agreed to move Kelo’s home to a new location.[11] The land was never deeded back to the original homeowners, most of whom have left New London for nearby communities.[2] Three years after the Supreme Court case was decided, the Kelo house was dedicated after being relocated to a site close to downtown New London.[12] Susette Kelo, however, has moved to a different part of Connecticut.
In spite of repeated efforts, the redeveloper (who stood to get a 91-acre (370,000 m2) waterfront tract of land for $1 per year) was unable to obtain financing, and the redevelopment project was abandoned. As of the beginning of 2010, the original Kelo property was a vacant lot, generating no tax revenue for the city.[2] As of March 2012, it was still vacant.[13] As of February 2014, it was still vacant.[14
"Just deserts"?
"Karma"?
The site sits empty and looks like hell. The developer should be fined daily until their great grandchildren are slaves to the Kelo evictees.
“As of the beginning of 2010, the original Kelo property was a vacant lot, generating no tax revenue for the city.”
I remember being horrified by this decision. The one liberty essential to the American idea is property rights. Prior to America any king could take your property. My understanding of eminent domain was, until this decision, was that if the government needed a harbor or a train station they could take your property and compensate you for the value. But in the 1960’s LBJ’s Great Society seized black owned property (judged to be of little value) all over Tampa and built Soviet style apartment blocks that they rented (and subsidized the rent) to the former owners of that property. Today, if it weren’t for the government ghetto those privately owned homes would be worth a fortune.
I have always wished the ‘Justices’ on the SCOTUS that voted for this should have ALL their property seized and sold. The money should go to all the people who have lost their property due to unjust ‘Eminent Domain’ claims.
Was this the first Eminent Domain claim that the properties in question could bring in more tax revenue for the Government? I never liked Eminent Domain, but it should NEVER have been used for anything other than need for public use (roads, etc).
Not only Tampa; the government gutted the urban areas of almost every major city in America. And, you're absolutely correct; most of those homes they bulldozed belonged to blacks. In Boston, "urban renewal" (don't you just love government euphemisms!) for the construction of I-95 (which never happened), resulted in the detraction of thousands of homes in the South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods. Today, in the remaining section of the South End, brick townhouses sell for several million dollars.
I seem to remember a movement at the time to eminent domain David Souter’s house in New Hampshire.
That was a movement I supported.
“Not only Tampa;”
I mentioned Tampa because I was there, roughly 10 years old. I had started reading the newspaper and (although not notably pro-black at the time)it reported that the homes being bulldozed were owned outright, in many cases by the same families for generations. And, it said they would be given apartments which would rent for more than they could afford. But, it was okay as the taxpayers would subsidize them. I remember riding through those neighborhoods. Many homes were unpainted but all seemed well maintained. There was no graffiti or derelict cars. Nobody stared at us or made threatening gestures. All of that changed within a year. Gangs, graffiti, burned cars and bums sleeping on the sidewalks became commonplace. Even a 10 year old could see the scale of the disaster.
We need to make sure that no one forgets the wrong that was done by big government or profits from that wrong. The next time there is a similar attempt to steal real property, it would be nice to point to this blight and remind the thief that they will be hated (which liberals don't care about) and never profit or even collect higher taxes from the theft (which they do care about).
Sad that this happened all over the country; and all under the guise of "urban renewal". The politicians could tout it in their next campaign, the city got tax-payer money for "renewal", the unions got fat contracts to tear down sections of the city. The former homeowners, and tax payers, who were mainly minorities, were pushed out and into the projects, ultimately creating a permanent underclass beholden to the government for a few crumbs. A better destruction of the social fabric could not have been planned.
Property rights ?
Try mining the coal on your land without federal approval.
Is New London still a sh#t hole? I would have thought they would have benefitted to some extent the Mohegan Sun/Foxwoods Casinos development and expansions.
I can not believe someone would not want this property to build some kind of marina. There is always a shortage of boat slip space with direct access to Long Island sound/Atlantic Ocean.
My dad/mom had a farm in upstate NY taken by eminent domain back in 1960. Their 500 acre farm became part of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. It is a big wetland area that is a major stop for migratory water foul. He complained for the next 40 years that they had underpaid him. The government is supposed to give you a fair market value for your property. He always stated that this farm had 5-6’ of sandy loam topsoil. Instead of corn being knee high by the fourth of July, this land would grow corn waist high by the fourth of July. Therefore, as farm land it was worth a lot more.
This was and remains a travesty. Apart from how unjust it was taking and destroying these people’s properties, the climate in medicine and pharmaceuticals led to Pfizer downsizing and leaving the facility that was supposed to be the anchor of what New London thought was going to be built there.
Property Rights?
Try digging a pond on your property. I assume we are all familiar with the most recent case in WY where a guy is being fined by the EPA for a pond on his property that he had permission from the state to build.
Property rights ?
Try harvesting rain water that falls on your property if you live in Oregon.
Property rights ?
Ever heard of “zoning”?
I think zoning was the first step to surrendering these rights.
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