What is "Justice" for Victims of Eminent Domain?
Detroit can claim the first mile of concrete paved road in the United States (Woodward from 6 Mile to 7 Mile) and the first "urban, depressed" freeway (The Davison). But did you know that Detroit once boasted one of the most important streets in Black America and that politicians chose to demolish it in order to construct Interstate-375?
When the decision was made to use eminent domain and evict the people of Hastings Street, it shut down what had been the highest concentration of Black-owned businesses anywhere in the United States. Hastings boasted blues bars, eye doctors, greasy spoons, dry cleaners, locksmiths, lawyers and dentists. Property owners on highway sites received only 30 days of notice from the state and no assistance with relocation.
But my how times have changed. From the AP...
This is quite a different result compared to the eminent domain used to seize property for highway construction some 60 years ago.
Eminent domain is used in the construction of every major freeway. Freeway siting in Detroit (and almost every other major U.S. city) has historically been used to dismantle minority communities under the guise of "slum clearance":
In each case, hundreds of residents and businesses were forced to relocate and paid far below the fair-market value for their properties. Communities were shattered and neighbors were literally separated by uncrossable "urban, depressed" freeways.
- The Lodge Expressway tore through Detroit's original Chinatown near 3rd and Howard. It relocated to the area near Cass and Peterboro.
- I-75 in SW Detroit cut through Mexicantown, bisecting Bagley Street, formerly the commercial thoroughfare. M-DOT is finally building a pedestrian bridge to reconnect Bagley this year as part of its seemingly never-ending "Gateway" project.
- I-96 landed right in the middle of an enclave of middle-class African American homes along Grand River Ave. on the west-side, making the neighborhood very difficult to access.
- I-94 took out a swath of the northern part of the Paradise Valley neighborhood.
Now, over half a century later, "Haggerty Corridor Partners Limited Partnership" has been paid a handsome sum to, er, compensate for the loss of their, er, formerly undeveloped swamp?
Is it really unclear how it will affect the state budget? They owe an additional $13.2 million to a faceless group of developers and their cadre of lawyers plus whatever they've spent trying to fight the lawsuit. It will affect the state budget *negatively*.
When the decision was made to use eminent domain and evict the people of Hastings Street, it shut down what had been the highest concentration of Black-owned businesses anywhere in the United States. Hastings boasted blues bars, eye doctors, greasy spoons, dry cleaners, locksmiths, lawyers and dentists. Property owners on highway sites received only 30 days of notice from the state and no assistance with relocation.
But my how times have changed. From the AP...
Michigan pays $16 million in M-5 land seizure
January 3, 2009
LANSING -- Michigan has paid a developer $16 million after seizing land for a highway project in metro Detroit.
The settlement reached early last month ends 13 years of legal wrangling.
In 1995, the Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, used eminent domain to take 51 acres of vacant land to help build the M-5 Haggerty Connector in Novi.
The state in 1996 paid nearly $2.8 million for the land, which was owned by Haggerty Corridor Partners Limited Partnership. The developer said the land was worth more because adjacent property it owned was rezoned later for high-tech offices instead of residential homes and agricultural uses.
This is quite a different result compared to the eminent domain used to seize property for highway construction some 60 years ago.
Eminent domain is used in the construction of every major freeway. Freeway siting in Detroit (and almost every other major U.S. city) has historically been used to dismantle minority communities under the guise of "slum clearance":
In each case, hundreds of residents and businesses were forced to relocate and paid far below the fair-market value for their properties. Communities were shattered and neighbors were literally separated by uncrossable "urban, depressed" freeways.
- The Lodge Expressway tore through Detroit's original Chinatown near 3rd and Howard. It relocated to the area near Cass and Peterboro.
- I-75 in SW Detroit cut through Mexicantown, bisecting Bagley Street, formerly the commercial thoroughfare. M-DOT is finally building a pedestrian bridge to reconnect Bagley this year as part of its seemingly never-ending "Gateway" project.
- I-96 landed right in the middle of an enclave of middle-class African American homes along Grand River Ave. on the west-side, making the neighborhood very difficult to access.
- I-94 took out a swath of the northern part of the Paradise Valley neighborhood.
Now, over half a century later, "Haggerty Corridor Partners Limited Partnership" has been paid a handsome sum to, er, compensate for the loss of their, er, formerly undeveloped swamp?
The $16 million is in addition to the $2.8 million already paid to the developer.
"I admire the government for realizing what's fair," said Alan Ackerman, an attorney for the developer. "It's not easy to give money away, especially in these times."
A message seeking comment was left with an MDOT spokesman Friday afternoon.
It was unclear how the settlement will affect the state budget, which Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration has said is facing a shortfall of at least $106 million in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
Is it really unclear how it will affect the state budget? They owe an additional $13.2 million to a faceless group of developers and their cadre of lawyers plus whatever they've spent trying to fight the lawsuit. It will affect the state budget *negatively*.
Labels: Detroit, Eminent Domain
posted by frequency13 at 4:01 PM
1 Comments:
Speaking as someone actually fighting eminent domain in federal court -- in a case that Attorney Ackerman has commented on in his blog -- I can confirm that the traditional interprettion of eminent domain is shifting. It is supposed to be the "taking" of property or property rights under the badge of government for the "public good," based on just compensation.
Turnpikes and freeways are the classic example.
In too many cases today, however, eminent domain has less to do with projects for the "public good," and everything to do with the financial good of publicly held corporations.
Today, eminent domain means someone wants your property, and the government helps them take it.
We are among a group of property owners in Bedford County, Pennsylvania (2 hours from Washington), who are being hauled into federal court by Houston-based Spectra Energy Corporation and backed by the power of the Federal Energy Regulatory Comission (FERC). The landowners' property is sitting on top of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale; but they can't develop that because Spectra Energy wants to use the Oriskany sands layer (which is under the Marcellus) for a 12 billion cubic feet underground natural gas storage facility. They say it is critical -- even though Pennsylvania has more underground gas storage sites than any other state in the continental US, according to the DOE's Energy Information Administration.
Justice? Keep in mind that property owners always possess the key asset -- the land -- but they are not treated as stakeholders in the eminent domain process but as obstacles to corporate and government power. For info: Spectra Energy: using eminent domain to trample private property rights
Post a Comment
<< Home