Two Eminent Domain Abuse Cases
In the first, a city tells a property owner to do something with his land or they’ll take it:
Downtown property owner Ron Lau vows he will fight the city’s attempt to seize his land for redevelopment.
“That’s unfortunate and misguided and just a flaw in how we as human beings operate,” Lau said of the city Redevelopment Agency’s plans to condemn his Pacific Avenue property that has been sitting empty since the Loma Prieta earthquake leveled much of the area in 1989.
A Hawaiian native who lives in Watsonville, Lau is a self-described free spirit who doesn’t like to be told what to do or when to do it. He owns the gaping concrete pit between Lulu Carpenter’s and the World Savings Bank branch — a spot many see as nothing but an eyesore and place for weeds to sprout in the heart of downtown.
The 20,000-square-foot lot has been appraised at $1.4 million.
Lau has 90 days to accept an offer by local developer Bolton Hill to buy the parcel. If a deal is not reached, the agency will attempt to negotiate with Lau. If that proves unsuccessful, the city says it will consider eminent domain.
The push to take the land came from a private developer. Another case of forced private party transfers.
In another case, the land has already been taken and given to a private developer. While the judgment is being appealed, another judge gave the developer the go ahead and tear down the building on it. The justification:
The financially strapped city has insisted it needs the property for the proposed Rookwood Exchange development — 200 condominiums, apartments, retail space and 550,000 square feet of office space — to bring an additional $1.8 million annually in earnings tax into the city’s coffers. The development also will generate an additional $300,000 per year for Norwood schools.
That’s pretty abysmal.
