If a business wants to buy property from the owner, they should negotiate for it. If the owner doesn't want to sell, that should be the end of it! However, businesses can now whine to gov't, who can steal said property for the business - with the blessing of the court! This act spits in the face of all that is American.
This is a practice that has to stop! Ohio citizens are the latest victims in this dispicable crime. Here's a timeline & link for more information.
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MULTIMEDIA• Institute for Justice brief (Microsoft Word Document)
• Norwood legal brief (PDF)
THE NORWOOD CASEEarly 2002 - Anderson Real Estate and the Miller-Valentine Group announce plans to build the Rookwood Exchange, a $125 million retail, residential and office complex just north of Rookwood Commons. The project would require the demolition of 71 houses and businesses. Developers soon begin negotiating with the property owners.
Aug. 26, 2003 - Norwood City Council adopts an urban renewal plan calling the neighborhood "blighted," "deteriorated," and "deteriorating" and approves an agreement with developers allowing the Rookwood Exchange project to proceed. The developers paid for the study.
Sept. 9, 2003 - Norwood City Council approves a resolution declaring its intent to seize the properties of the seven home and business owners who don't want to sell to the developers and move out. At this point, 64 property owners have agreed to sell.
Sept. 23, 2003 - Norwood City Council votes to seize the holdout properties by eminent domain.
Sept. 23, 2003 - The Institute of Justice, a Washington-based public-interest law firm, files a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on behalf of nine holdout property owners seeking to stop Norwood's attempt to take the properties by eminent domain.
Nov. 7, 2003 - Norwood files lawsuits in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court asking for the right to seize the holdout properties.
Nov. 25, 2003 - Judge Robert Ruhlman dismisses the Institute for Justice's lawsuit, ruling that Norwood can seize the holdout properties so that Rookwood Exchange can be built. This decision is under appeal.
April 12-15, 2004 - A trial on Norwood's complaint asking to seize held to determine whether Norwood can seize the properties of the five remaining holdout home and business owners takes place before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Beth Myers.
June 14, 2004 - Myers rules that Norwood can use eminent domain to take the properties of the five home and business owners. She said that although the neighborhood should not have been designated as "blighted," it is "deteriorating."
Feb. 2, 2005 - The last occupants of the planned Rookwood Exchange site - Joy and Carl Gamble Jr. - move out of their house.
May 20, 2005 - The 1st District Court of Appeals upheld Myers' decision that supported Norwood's use of eminent domain to seize the properties.
April 13, 2005 - Demolition crews began knocking down houses to make way for the Rookwood Exchange. They demolished all but three structures that were protected by court order until the case is resolved - the home of Joy and Carl Gamble Jr., a rental house owned by Joe Horney and the Kumon Math & Reading Center.
Sept. 28, 2005 - Ohio Supreme Court hears oral arguments about whether to demolish two of the three houses.
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