Friday, October 07, 2005

Another Government Seizure Of Private Property! This Time In DC To Build A Baseball Stadium!

Yesterday I told you about the city council government in Riviera Beach, Florida who is about to throw out 6,000 residents...thanks to a new liberal supreme court ruling on eminent domain all in the name of economical development.

Well now it is happening again this time in our nations capitol. It seems the city council wants to build a new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals.

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."

Many property owners on the site said the city's offers are inadequate. Others are suing the city on the grounds that it has no right to use eminent domain to acquire land at the site, despite a Supreme Court ruling affirming the right of municipal governments to take private property for the purpose of economic development.

In April, the city notified property owners on the site that they would be required to move out by Dec. 31.

We have now reached the point where you only own your house as long as the government allows you to own it.

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