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Ah, the greed of a developer and the threat of new laws aimed at stopping them. The St. Louis Redevelopment Agency in its eagerness to avoid following the legistlatures decision, rushed an eminent domain takeover lawsuit to remove property from a Wheel Chair Bound senior citizen who has a long term lease on a property the city wants to turn into an entertainment district.

The legislature passed a new more restrictive eminent domain law to stop such aggressive and enriching taking by development agencies, but the law does not go into effect until December 31st, 2006. So instead of following typical proceedure, some greedy and unethical bureaucrat decides to file the lawsuit to start the process before the law takes effect.

So instead the city is going to have a big black eye as it tries to take the property from an elderly woman, who leases it from a church. Does the city of St. Louis have no shame? All to avoid a more restictive law passed by the legislature they will aggresively sue an old lady.

The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, says the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority has been unable to agree on a price for 1119-1127 South Broadway, owned by the Convent of the Sacred Heart.

The land and buildings have been leased for no rent to Salvatore and Mabel Inserra for a 999-year term, according to an appraisal supplied by the Inserras’ lawyer, Francis X. Duda.

The Inserras have leased the 13,660-square-foot property since at least the early 1980s. Salvatore Inserra, a longtime Soulard Market produce seller, died at work in 1985 at age 60.

The suit also names property owners from centuries ago and their heirs, including John Mullanphy, said to be St. Louis’ first millionaire, a nun and “Philipini Duchesne.” The suit appears to be referring to St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne, who founded a school for the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a cabin in St. Charles in 1818, according to the Vatican. She died in 1852 and was canonized in 1988.

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