Eminent Domain Abuse in Norwood, Ohio

This story illustrates the problem with Eminent Domain. When it is a school or park that the community needs, eminent domain is a great tool. When it is a development to enrich either the government or a business, eminent domain will always be abused. Joe Horney wanted to keep his house. A developer wants to buy it at market rate, but at a predefined market rate that the sheriff is enforcing.

Part of the game of land ownership and development is that the last person to sell out tends to do better financially. The developer has to put together the properties and make an offer that entices the people to sell. Joe Horney should be able keep his house or get an offer he can not refuse, and I am not talking about a sheriff coming to the door, but a ridiculous dollar amount. That is the bet the developer is placing that he can put together all of the properties to use for the project. Instead, he starts out threatening the people of the community with eminent domain changing the dynamic of the marketplace. And that is wrong.

Joe Horney used a small inheritance from his grandparents to make a down payment on a $63,900 house in 1991. He lived in the house for a while, fixed it up and rented it out for 10 years. He went on to manage construction of luxury homes and own other rental properties.

Then came Sept. 28, 2002. In a penthouse office overlooking Horney’s rental property, a developer told local residents that he wanted to buy all the homes on the block, tear them down and build condos, retail shops and parking garages.

A PowerPoint presentation made clear what would happen to those who refused to sell: eminent domain. The city of Norwood would use its governmental power to transfer ownership of the property from uncooperative owners to the developer.

Horney, 36, got angry and left the meeting. “From that moment on, my mind was made up,” he says. “They can’t take my property just because they want to. That’s not right.” via USATODAY.com

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