Government seizure of homes targeted: Group challenges legality of takings done for private use

ASHINGTON -- The first time the city of New London, Conn., seized Pasquale Cristofaro's home, it was to make way for a seawall that never materialized. Instead, private medical offices were built over the backyard plot where Cristofaro once grew tomatoes, squash, and grapes. Three decades later, when the city wanted to raze another Cristofaro family home to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club, and offices, the 77-year-old Italian immigrant dug in and fought back in court.

"Now they take...good, solid, safe areas near the highway or with a beautiful view"

"Environmentalists" would think nothing of taking your home so they can have a pleasant view as they drive by.

Beware of "Liberals." Their cruelty knows no bounds.

"It can happen to anybody!"

The "environmentalists" are probably the most unjust, cruel, and odious offenders of all!

Even Monte Python is outraged over abused property rights, as can be seen in "The Castle", which although it's Monte Python, is pretty funny and is very much a FReeperesque kind of film.

"Fair compensation" can easilly be defined if the government were required to give a choice between a new home and cash to the home owner.

1. The same distance to work and school for all residents, if not better. Otherwise, a certain number, such as $10,000 per mile of increased driving for each resident who is put out.

2. The same square footage for the optional home, or better.

3. The same number of rooms for the optional home, or better.

4. The same number of bathrooms for the optional home, or better.

5. Moving fee tacked on for the optional home.

6. Motel expenses and storage [and storage insurance] paid by the government if the transition is not immediate.

7. If the resident lives in and prefers country, city, suburb, then a shift of the kind of area should be +25% house value in cash.

8. The size of the yard must be the same, if not better.

8. Other variables need a clear definition as well. View. Proximity to property value droppers, such as landfills. Comparative crime rates. Etc.

The thing is, by the time you have calculated all these compensatory factors, it's doubtful that many homes would be knocked down unless there's a darn good reason.

There is a drawback with this idea, though. Govenment people could knock down the homes of their buddies to get cash from the government. So while this is a novel thought that helps put the residents' loss in perspective, none of this begins to mention the stolen family memories, the work put into customizing the home and yard, the lost neighbors, etc.

Local planners struggling to rejuvenate their downtowns or aging suburbs say sometimes the public good outweighs the property rights of individuals.

This is a perversion of the Public takings principle.

While the principle of public takings is, in itself, probably necessary, taking land at current market value for private use is a true evil. There should be substantial penalties attached to such a taking, and in the case of conversion to commercial use, the original owners should retain some sort of income producing interest in the property.

You covered alot, and as you stated there is so much more to the story.

We need to also consider the loss of capitalisation of speculative funds, which in most cases equates to the loss of a retirement fund. Many small homeowners deliberately purchase land in an area knowing/hoping they will be affected by growth 20 to 40 years down the road. When the government takes their land through eminent domain, they are compensated at the precommercial land value, often 1/10th of the future value of the land. As soon as the area is rezoned as commercial, which is usually immediately following the taking, the land value increases drastically, and the private developer is the one who gets to reap the profit without having invested in any speculative risk whatsoever.

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