Justice Souter says, "Play Ball!"
Posted on 10/06/2005 11:17:56 AM PDT by JZelle
The District will begin using eminent domain to acquire parcels of land at the site of the Washington Nationals' ballpark by the end of this month, after unsuccessful negotiations with nearly half of the landowners. City officials said they expect to file court documents to take over at least some of the 21-acre site in the coming weeks and have $97 million set aside to buy the properties and help landowners relocate. The city made offers to all 23 landowners on the site last month but received no response from 10. "We think there are some that we'll have good-faith negotiations with," said Steve Green, director of development in the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. "There are some we haven't heard from at all."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Justice Souter says, "Play Ball!"
Bread and circuses trumped property rights in the waning days of the Roman Empire as well.
I wonder what percent of fair market value they offered the property owners??
They are getting an "offer they can't refuse".
Rights, farms, environment ping.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
"Landsnatching . . . land, land, Land, see Snatch. Ah, Hailie vs. United Sates. Hailie: 7, United States: nothing. You see, it can be done!"
Sorry. Doesn't apply to stadia. I really wish people would get their facts straight.
Come on. New stadiums bring all sorts of economic development. Just ask Pittsburgh!
The article implies they got 13 out of 23 agreements to sell. The other 10 didn't respond. They could just be holding out. Sounds like they were offering reasonable deals.
BTTT!!!!!!
Tough. It's their property, and they can sell or not sell at any price and for any reason or no reason at all.
That's what it means to own something.
"but it's for the public's good entertainment!"
This is a legitimate government purpose. Remember the Declaration of Independence: "... To preserve these spectator sports, governments are instituted among Men, derivng their just powers from the passion of the fans."
It could be that the 13 who caved realized that they would get very little under an Eminent Domain proceeding and got out while they could with what they could.
The Methodist Church in my town is having a portion of their building condemned to make way for dumpster storage and a truck turnaround for a proposed private high rise hotel project. The town told them that unless they agree to sell, the town will go through all of their buildings and document every flaw and code violation, and deduct that amount from whatever settlement they would get under eminent domain, which could potentially leave them owing money to the town. So don't go telling me that these deals are all voluntary and everyone walks away happy.
They did this here in Cleveland a number of years ago too for Jacob's Field.
Between public funding and eminent domain, the whole stadium thins is way out fo hand.
Tenants pay rent or they are evicted.
Property "owners" pay property tax or they are evicted.
Tenants can only use the premises according to conditions set in their lease.
Property "owners" can only use their land according to conditions set by building/zoning codes.
Landlords can decline to continue a lease, and instead rent to someone willing to pay a higher rent.
Governments can exercise "eminent domain" (thin euphamism for 'nationalization') and give the property to someone willing to pay more taxes.
Yeah! I think its right there next to the part where they say we cn't be forced to quarter visiting teams in our homes! :)
$97 million divided by 23? What's that? About $4.2 mil per landowner? Heck, just give me my $4.2 million and I'll relocate myself! Not that it actually will work out that way, but I would be real curious to see the properties and see what the offers amounted to.
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