IJ’s $3 Million National Campaign Tells Lawmakers: “Hands Off My Home”
CAMPAIGN SEEKS TO PROTECT HOMEOWNERS & SMALL BUSINESSES AFTER U.S. SUPREME COURT EMINENT DOMAIN RULING
Washington, D.C. The Institute for Justice and its grass roots group, the Castle Coalition, seeks to do what the U.S. Supreme Court refused to do last week when it issued its ruling in the Kelo case allowing eminent domain for private development: protect ordinary homeowners and small businesses from eminent domain abuse.
Through IJ’s Castle Coalition a nationwide network of citizen activists determined to stop the abuse of eminent domain in their communities the Institute for Justice today announced the Hands Off My Home campaign to give ordinary citizens the means to protect their homes from government forced takings for private development. The Institute also made an initial commitment of $3 million to fund the national effort to combat eminent domain at the state and local level. IJ made the announcement less than one week after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Kelo decision allowing governments to take property from the rightful owner only to hand it over to another private party for his or her private gain.
The Flood gate to eminent domain abuse are already opening in the wake of the Supreme Courts dreadful Kelo decision, said Scott Bullock, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice. The Hands Off My Home campaign will empower ordinary Americans to fight back against eminent domain abuse and to stop this unamerican alliance between tax hungry politicians and land hungry developers.
The American people are furious about this decision, but they can do something about it, said Dana Berliner, an IJ senior attorney. In this next year, the Castle Coalition will encourage and coordinate grass roots efforts to end eminent domain abuse in states and cities. At the same time, the Institute for Justice will ask state courts to enforce their state constitutional limits on the use of eminent domain for private development. And the next time we get to the Supreme Court, it will overturn the Kelo precedent.
One would be hard-pressed to think of a recent Supreme Court decision that has generated such widespread and virtually unanimous outrage, said Chip Mellor, the president and co-founder of the Institute for Justice. We will take this energy and put it toward productive activism.
As part of their Hands Off My Home campaign, the Institute for Justice and the Castle Coalition immediate plans are to:
Bullock said, We’ll be working across the country, but we’re not giving up on New London, Conn. On July 5 at 6 p.m., there will be a rally at the New London Town Hall to ask the City Council to save these homes and allow Susette Kelo, the Dery family and the rest of the homeowners to stay in Fort Trumbull.
The City and the New London Development Corporation don’t need these homes to accomplish their private development projects, and we will ask them to finally do the right thing and let these people stay in the homes they know and love.
Steven Anderson, the coordinator of the Castle Coalition, said, Many cities held off on eminent domain actions, waiting for the Supreme Court to decide Kelo. Now, with a thumbs-up from the Court, these cities can be expected to move aggressively. Some already have. But IJ will be there every step of the way to stop eminent domain abuse.
Among many such examples of this trend, Anderson cited officials in Freeport, Texas, who immediately began legal filings to seize small businesses to make way for a private boat marina.
Among the small property owners who addressed the press conference was Scott Mahan from Ardmore, Penn., who may lose his small business to governmentforced redevelopment. Mahan said, Anyone who owns a piece of property anywhere in this country is at risk after the Kelo decision. Now people are finally seeing that this isn't just homeowners in New London, Connecticut, or business owners in Ardmore, Pennsylvania; it can happen to anyone, anywhere.
Denise Hoagland, a homeowner from Long Branch, N.J., who is fighting to save her ocean-front home from a private development project that would replace her home with upscale condominiums, spoke for many homeowners nationwide who are fighting this kind of abuse when she said, My home is a part of me, a part of my family, and we are part of a community. Owning a home is the American Dream and to have it forcibly taken away to benefit someone else is against all of the principles of what being an American is about.
Flood gate Open:
Tax Hungry Governments & Land Hungry Developers Rejoice in Green Light from U.S. Supreme CourtWashington, D.C. Less than one week after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London upholding the use of eminent domain for private development, the Flood gate are opening to abuse.
Already, the ruling has emboldened governments and developers seeking to take property from home and small business owners.
The following examples from newspapers across the country show that the threat of condemnation to homes, small business, churches and other property from governmentforced private development projects is being realized. These incidents are the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of properties nationwide are facing the threat of eminent domain for private development, and many more projects are in the planning stages. In its first ever nationwide study Public Power, Private Gain, the Institute for Justice documented more than 10,000 instances of threatened or actual condemnation for private development nationwide from 1998 through 2002. The Institute for Justice will issue an updated report later this year.
Cities' Actions Since Kelo
Freeport, Texas
Hours after the Kelo decision, officials in Freeport began legal filings to seize some waterfront businesses (two seafood companies) to make way for others (an $8 million private boat marina), according to the Houston Chronicle.
Lake Zurich, Ill.
Five property owners facing condemnation for private development had asked Lake Zurich officials to hold off until the Kelo decision. The Chicago Tribune reports that City officials are now moving to condemn.
Boston, Mass.
Two days after the Kelo decision, Boston City Council President Michael Flaherty called on the mayor of Boston to seize South Boston waterfront property from unwilling sellers for a private development project. Eminent domain is one tool that the city can use, Flaherty told the Boston Globe.
Arnold, Mo.
Arnold Mayor Mark Powell applauded the decision, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The City of Arnold wants to raze 30 homes and 15 small businesses, including the Arnold VFW, for a Lowe’s Home Improvement store and a strip mall a $55 million project for which developer THF Realty will receive $21 million in tax increment financing. Powell said that for cash strapped cities like Arnold, enticing commercial development is just as important as other public improvements.
Baltimore, Md. (West Side)
The City of Baltimore is moving to acquire shops on the city’s west side for private development. Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of Westside Renaissance, Inc., a private organization coordinating the project with the city’s development corporation, told the Baltimore Sun, If there was any hesitation because of the Supreme Court case, any question is removed, and we should expect to see things proceeding in a timely fashion.
Baltimore, Md. (East Side)
Baltimore’s redevelopment agency, the Baltimore Development Corp., is exercising eminent domain to acquire more than 2,000 properties in East Baltimore for a biotech park and new residences. BDC Executive Vice President Andrew B. Frank told the Daily Record the Kelo decision is very good news. It means many of the projects on which we’ve been working for the last several years can continue.
Newark, N.J.
Newark officials want to raze 14 downtown acres in the Mulberry Street area to build 2,000 upscale condo units and retail space. The Municipal Council voted against the plan in 2003, but then reversed its decision eight months later following re-election campaigns in which developers donated thousands of dollars. Officials told the Associated Press that the Mulberry Street project could have been killed if the U.S. Supreme Court had sided with the homeowners in Kelo.
Lodi, N.J.
Save Our Homes, a coalition of 200 residents in a Lodi trailer park targeted by the City for private retail development and a senior living community, goes to court on July 18 to try to prevent a private developer from taking their homes. Lodi Mayor Gary Paparozzi called the Kelo ruling a shot in the arm for the town. He told the Bergen County Record, The trailer park is like a poster child for redevelopment. That’s the best case scenario for using eminent domain.
Cleveland, Ohio
Developer Scott Wolstein has planned a $225 million residential and retail development in the Flats district. Wolstein has most of the property he needs, but is pleased that Kelo cleared the way for the City to acquire land from any unwilling sellers. If eminent domain is necessary, he told the Plain Dealer, we think this makes it clear that there won’t be any legal impediments. Previously, city leaders publicly supported Wolstein’s call for eminent domain.
Dania, Fla.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Dania Beach City Manager Ivan Pato expressed joy over the ruling in Kelo. Dania plans to buy a block of properties for a private development project, and Pato said the city will use eminent domain to oust unwilling sellers. Unless we expand the city’s tax base, our residents are facing rising taxes on their property, Pato said. Redevelopment is the only way we will be able to make ends meet.
Memphis, Tenn.
The Riverfront Development Corp. is planning a massive, 5-mile development effort, including the use of eminent domain to claim a four block section from the current owners for a mixed use development. [Kelo] definitely gives the city more tools in its tool box for dealing with the legal issues surrounding that piece of property, RDC president Benny Lendermon told the Commercial Appeal.
Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Miramar, Fla.
Broward County officials yesterday cleared the way for new condo and retail development in these three cities. Hollywood residents in the targeted area fear their homes may now be taken for economic development following the Kelo decision. Mayor Mara Giulianti said the City would use eminent domain on a case-by-case basis to remove homeowners unwilling to sell.
West Allis, Wisc.
West Allis officials want to revitalize the West Allis Towne Center, a shopping mall. If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the homeowners in Kelo, officials may not have been able to use eminent domain to claim the mall, West Allis development director John Stibal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.By
John Kramer
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