Posted on 07/06/2003 7:35:19 PM PDT by BenLurkin
CALIFORNIA CITY - The city may use eminent domain proceedings to acquire land for a proposed Hyundai Motor Co.-Kia Motor Corp. test track facility, despite vocal protests by property owners.
The decision was made at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, when City Council members, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency, unanimously passed a resolution that would begin eminent domain proceedings to acquire the remaining property for the site.
Of the 7 square miles of land needed by Hyundai-Kia, approximately 80% was owned by a railroad firm, which the company purchased last year.
The rest of land consists of 211 lots; approximately half of these have already been purchased for the test track.
The remaining 100 or so property owners are still negotiating for purchase of their lots, which are now subject to eminent domain proceedings.
In this process, the redevelopment agency's law firm may file a complaint against the property owner. Eventually, the case would go before a judge to determine just compensation for the property.
However, the city will continue negotiating with the owners, right up until the moment the case goes into the courtroom, City Manager Jack Stewart said.
Complaints will be filed on a case-by-case basis, depending on negotiations, said Mark Manion , attorney for the redevelopment agency.
The city and its negotiating agency, Associated Right of Way Services, will re-examine the prices offered and ask property owners to provide their own comparable land sales and appraisals.
"Then we sit down and review everything," Stewart said. "All the way up to the end."
Approximately 40 people packed the city council chambers for the 1 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
All of the property owners and residents who spoke during the public comment period were opposed to the resolution before the redevelopment agency, and were greeted by applause from the audience following their statements.
Many of those property owners still negotiating with the city feel that the appraised value of their land - and therefore the price offered - is too low.
"Why would a rich company like Hyundai-Kia take my property for far less than I paid for it 24 years ago?" said Wilbert Echeverria . "Why is government helping this giant industry steal my property?"
Many of those at Tuesday's meeting spoke in opposition to using eminent domain proceedings to aid a private company, not for public use.
Property owner Melvin Hayashi called the process a "charade," saying the "city had to grasp at straws to find reasons to declare the area blighted, using preposterous justifications such as inadequate infrastructure and faulty lot layout."
"Seizing land for private use is a violation of the Fifth Amendment," he said. "A closely-guarded, shareholder-benefitting, automotive test track is private use. Pure and simple."
Now a resident of Honolulu, Hayashi bought his 20.55 acre parcel in 1974, when he was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base.
Hayashi also said that by trying to bring in more jobs and taxes, "city leaders have badly manipulated the laws and ethics of responsible government."
His recommendation to the agency was to let Hyundai-Kia acquire the property "in the free market, in the same way that Hyundai is allowed to conduct its sales."
Stewart said that eminent domain may be used for a private facility that will provide a public good.
"It's a tool of redevelopment used sparingly," he said. "It's not something we take lightly."
In this case, officials feared that a single property owner could hold up the project by demanding an astronomical price for the land, he said.
June Ailin, an attorney representing a number of property owners, recited a list of problems with the negotiating process, ranging from inadequate notice to out-of-area owners for appraisal meetings to the city's definition of "blighted," in order to use eminent domain proceedings.
Stewart said that under state law, the city can declare the land as blighted for redevelopment purposes due to irregulated parcels that make its development difficult.
Ailin also stated that, according to a June 2002 memorandum of agreement with Hyundai-Kia, the city committed itself to acquiring the land for the project, saying "we are going to do whatever we have to do to do this contract," she said.
"I think you have a serious problem as to having made a pre-commitment to Hyundai," Ailin said.
California City resident Neil Neilson, while not a property owner within the project boundaries, also spoke against prior commitments by the city.
"The city's approvals have been predetermined by contract with Hyundai," he said. "Your votes have been bought and paid for."
Before the vote, Manion told agency members that the memorandum of agreement between the city and automotive maker does not give away the agency's decision-making powers, but that it is intended as a good-faith agreement.
Michael Burger, the Bakersfield-based appraiser hired by the city for this process, said only about half of the property owners responded to letters inviting them to become involved in the appraisals.
In finding comparable land sales on which to base the appraisals, Burger said his firm expanded its search to a wide area around the city, but found no significant difference in prices.
The eminent domain proceedings may still be derailed, if a pending appeal to the measure which brought the property under the jurisdiction of the redevelopment agency is successful.
Property owners filed a lawsuit challenging the measure - known as the second amendment to the redevelopment plan - which allows for eminent domain proceedings under the redevelopment agency's authority. However, that lawsuit was dismissed under a ruling that there was no legal basis for the complaint.
The appeal of that dismissal is believed to have minimal chance of success, said Manion.
Hyundai-Kia hopes to open the test track facility in late 2004, in time to accept vehicles from its newest plant in Alabama.
The facility will be used by the company to test their prototype vehicles in a variety of situations and will employ about 50 skilled workers and administrative staff full time. Another 50 will be seasonal or part-time employees. Engineers and consultants from Hyundai America Technical Center will also be visiting the facility.
The facility will include a 6.4-mile oval track, a vehicle dynamics area, a vehicle-handling course, a paved hill road and several special surface roads. A 30,000-square-foot office complex will be built.
Besides jobs and income for local businesses, Stewart said the city will net between $200,000 and $300,000 a year in taxes. Other benefits include income from building permits and two new SUVs for the police department.
A ceremonial ground-breaking for the facility was held in February, with officials and executives from Hyundai-Kia in attendance.
One of my rules of thumb when traveling is that if a town is named after a chemical it is probably a miserable place.
Think about Lead, SD; Taconite, MN, etc.
The only counter example I know is Telluride.
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