Eminent Domain Resolution To Be Discussed At Tuesday’s Council Meeting - Sunday, February 24, 2008

Eminent Domain Resolution To Be Discussed At Tuesday’s Council Meeting

This Tuesday the Council will be holding a Public Hearing on a Resolution that enables the City to take eminent domain action (taking over and purchasing properties) on Rhode Island Avenue.

The resolution does four things:

1) It lists the area on the north side of Rhode Island Avenue (between Eastern Ave and the 34th St. circle) as a “blighted” area;
2) It states that the redevelopment of the area is necessary in the interest of public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City;
3) It initiates an Urban Renewal Project for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of this blighted area;
4) It authorizes the acquisition of the properties in this area including, if necessary, taking these properties by the power of eminent domain.


I now believe that the City has to do something to ‘get things moving’ on Rhode Island. We seem to have reached a standstill. Landmark Atlantic (the group the City is partnering with) has not been able to purchase any of the properties and Bob Holland (the person with the hotel/mixed use proposal) has also not been moving ahead with his proposal.
Maybe passing this resolution will start to shake things up. After the resolution is passed, the City may decide to write all the owners a letter threatening legal action if they do not sell the properties to Landmark so they can develop the site. If they refuse to sell to Landmark, the next steps get murky. The City might eventually have to take legal action to condemn and purchase the properties at a fair market value. Who would pay (Landmark or the City) for the purchases and the legal action would have to be worked out. The City does not have the money for expensive legal proceedings and the millions of dollars necessary to purchase all the properties outright.

Because the next steps are difficult and have large financial implications, I feel it is important to build in another step for the public to make itself heard. I will be proposing an amendment to the resolution that mandates that before the city actually initiates any legal action or attempts to purchase properties, another public hearing and formal vote be held.

It should be an interesting meeting and I hope people come to hear about the next steps regarding Rhode Island Development.