Eminent Domain Abuse in Michigan
June 27, 2010 – 9:41 amDespite Michigan’s having enacted legislation to prohibit state and local government from seizing land in order to give it to a private owner for ‘economic development’ under the auspicies of the ‘eminent domain’ clause in the United States Constitution, abuse of the power to take continues. Grand Valley State University threatens a neighbor with eminent domain action unless they sell a building the owners bought years ago, and which they plan to renovate as an apartment/office building, unless they sell. Offering a ‘deal’ and a threat together reminds one all too easily of the Godfather’s famous words: ”I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse.” It should be obvious that the owner negotiates at a disadvantage when the ‘sale’ is a foregone conclusion.
It should also be obvious that Grand valley state University could look for a different location. They choose to make their convenience the sole item of interest in deciding where to locate their new Seidman College of Business. Even if this power grab is legal, it is not moral, and GVSU show itself to be a bully and a bad neighbor. (How ironic, at a time when Wall Street bankers run amok, working hand-inhand with their former colleagues in government to shaft us, at a time when calls for a return to old-fashioned ethics in public life echo throughout the land, that a ‘College of Business’ would find a new home by working hand-in-hand with government to shaft a neighbor. One wonders if this lesson will be lost on the faculty and students who matriculate there.)
Perhaps a university with a previously good reputation will listen to reason and relent. As I pointed out when I wrote them, there are plenty of empty buildings and willing owners, so why not be a good neighbor? Here’s what I wrote:
3 Responses to “Eminent Domain Abuse in Michigan”
Those of us who have faced the threat of eminent domain know two things: It is a sobering experience and property owners like the warehouse owner do not stand on a level playing field legally or politically.
To add insult to injury, more eminent domain “taking” is on its way in shale gas states like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
With more drilling (e.g., in the Marcellus Shale) comes more pipelines and more underground gas storage fields — and that (pipelines & storage fields) always means eminent domain.
Alexandra Klass, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, wrote an article in 2008 titled, “The Frontier of Eminent Domain.” She raises the question: “Why aren’t Kelo activists also incensed over natural resource development takings?”
But property owners can fight back. Our two-year battle against Houston-based Spectra Energy which seized our property rights for an underground gas storage field led to the development of a website which has begun to attract whistle blowers inside the energy industry. If you want to understand the adverse effects of this type of eminent domain, refer to this post: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=616
Or here: Spectra Energy
Private property rights are so fundamental that founding fathers such as Samuel Adams described it as an “essential” right and wrote, “that no man can justly take the property of another without his consent.”
ssgconway reply on July 1st, 2010 6:02 pm:
Thanks for your comments and your insight. I had heard briefly about the shale issue, without paying attention to the potential for eminent domain abuse. We must continue to highlight these attempts to deny us our rights to live unmolested on our property, so that this is ever before the public.
By MikeB on Jul 1, 2010
Eminent Domain abuse is just another symptom of our statist rulers believing that there are no checks in law upon their decrees.
All they want is more power over your life because you are incompetent to manage it yourself and more of your money because they can surely spend it more wisely than you.
By Nik on Jul 2, 2010