Posted on 11/21/2016 9:39:47 AM PST by Kaslin
Yeah. What’s up with that?
I've seen some pretty serious blight both urban and rural. So eminent domain to improve an area over the objections of recalcitrant owners is not what bothers me, really. Everyone would be better off if it were improved.
What bothers me is the taking of private property over an objection with just compensation for those losing their property. Just compensation should INCLUDE a piece of the action off their former property. It shouldn't be, "We want your property because it has a magnificent view/location on a beach front/river front/lake front, and we're giving you what we think is market value whether you like it or not."
Instead it should be, "We know it's magnificent, the best location around, and we're giving you control of X area in the new development relative to your square footage in the total development.
Then let that person farm it out for business or sell it. They don't keep their shack in the middle of it, but they just might be the same size as a coffee shop in the new area. And someone might want to buy that from them at a real price.
To any person facing threat of Imminent Domain (ID) you should know that the agency has to offer fair market value (FMV) and relocation assistance. FMV is in the eye of the beholder. If it goes to court, both sides presents the judge their offer and counter-offer. In most cases the judge will split the 2 offers and go right down the middle unless compelling arguments can sway them one way or the other.
Even if the City uses it’s own funding and then after the fact decides to use some form of feral money, the feds will require a review of the acquisition process (softer way of saying ID)and they will not sign off if there was any slight of hand during the process.
It is imperative that people educate themselves about the process. Go to the city meetings and ask how they plan on paying for any improvements that the developer is requesting, ask to see any city ordinances they must adopt prior to using ID, ask if they are going to adhere to federal law for acquisition. The State’s Dept. of Transportation or the County are well versed in these processes because of the federal money they receive for their transportation projects.
Presently I think Wisconsin is Cranberry Country. Wisconsin is the leading state producer of Cranberries
Route 44 Development LLC was set up in 2013- by George McLaughlin III and Robert Delhome out of Boston. Would be interesting to see the connections they have.
CRANBERRY PRODUCTION IN WISCONSIN
Judge for yourself
Wisconsin is the nation’s leading producer of cranberries, harvesting more than 60 percent of the country’s crop. The little red berry, Wisconsin’s official state fruit, is the state’s number one fruit crop, both in size and economic value.
The cranberry, once called “crane berry” by settlers because of its blossom’s resemblance to the sandhill crane, was first harvested in Wisconsin around 1860 by Edward Sacket in Berlin, Wisconsin. Today, more than 250 growers produce cranberries throughout central and northern Wisconsin.
Where Wisconsin Cranberries are Grown
Cranberries are grown on 21,000 acres across 20 counties in Wisconsin. The sand and peat marshes in central and northern Wisconsin create the perfect growing conditions for cranberries.
During the early 1890s, the center of the Wisconsin cranberry industry shifted to the Cranmoor area, just west of Wisconsin Rapids. Later developments occurred in the Black River Falls, Warrens and Tomah areas, followed by cranberry farms in northern Wisconsin, primarily around Manitowish Waters, Eagle River, Spooner and Hayward.
If a private entity wants to take property from another private entity, and the sole justification is that they will use it better..... then there also has to be an option that someone says “no thank you, even for 10 million extra, I prefer to keep my shack”.
Anything else is crap. It sure isn’t capitalism.
Go acquire a few genuine indian trinkets and a few bones. “Discover” them in your yard.
Show up in the negotiation with a fake newspaper headline...”Sacred Indian burial ground discovered in Cranberry country”.
Shove the fake newspaper across the table and tell them this MIGHT become a real headline tomorrow. Ask them how much they think that kind of delay might cost them. Ask them if they have a very good relationship with the local indian tribes (they don’t)
THEN begin negotiations.
I disagree.
Those living around that shack shouldn’t have to put up with it.
Heavy hitters for sure. The property owners would be hard-pressed to find a better and more expensive lawyer than McLaughlin.
Would be like F. Lee Bailey versus Algonquin J. Calhoun.
I wonder if they are fronted for a big company.
http://www.mclaughlinbrothers.com/georgemclaughlin.html
Delhome
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/1998/08/31/smallb1.html
Very interesting.
ED should be used only for legitimate and necessary state projects like needed roads, not damn commercial properties.
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