Eminent Domain coming to Charlottesville?

Update: Maybe much ado about nothing – see Mayor Brown’s comment below.
Update 1/18/05: The DP reports that the Bill made it through the subcommittee with amendments clarifying that eminent domain will not be used. Thanks to Waldo, the bills are here (Deeds) and here (Toscano).

Helping to provide affordable housing is one thing, but is this:

“We need to move families out of poverty,” he said. “It is intended for people with low to moderate incomes.”

Government’s place? Personally, I am still not 100% comfortable with this.
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The City of Charlottesville is reaching – reaching for new powers to take property from private individuals for the express reasoning of redistributing that property to others. I almost didn’t believe it until I read it for myself. Four especially troubling paragraphs (bolding mine):

(a)[1] To acquire land or buildings in the city for the purpose of providing housing for low or moderate income persons or for elderly or handicapped persons;

[8] to acquire any dwellings or dwelling units in the city for the purpose of providing housing to low or moderate income persons, and to dispose of such dwellings or dwelling units, by sale or lease, to low or moderate income persons or to a nonprofit organization or limited profit organization which has as its principal purpose the provision or development of housing for low or moderate income persons;

In addition to being able to exercise the above-mentioned powers with city funds, the city is authorized to participate in any state or federal program related thereto and to use state, federal or private funds in the exercise of such powers.

[12] The exercise of any of the powers granted in this section is hereby declared to be a public purpose and public use

First: Government has no business stealing others’ property so that they may repurpose said property. If they want a “dwelling or dwelling unit” they should make an offer and pay for it, same as the rest of us. What is particularly troubling is that this does not even touch the concept of blight, one of the more traditional reasons for stealing an individual’s property.

Ostensibly this Charter Amendment is designed to help the City provide affordable housing. This is the wrong way to achieve such laudable goals.

The definition of “public purpose” seems to be quite broad here. What’s next? Make no mistake; this request does not make exceptions; potentially, as I read it, if you have a property the City thinks would be better used as housing for “low or moderate income persons” or elderly or handicapped, the City wants the right and ability to take it. Thank you, Mr. Schilling, for voting against this proposal. There is a City Council meeting this evening, 17 January.

If the goal is to provide affordable housing, why include handicapped persons? Are they inherently more in need of government assistance (please note the intentional sarcasm in this sentence!)? Or were handicapped persons included so that opposition to this Charter is more difficult to present? (“So, Mr. Opposition, you are saying that you don’t support the poor and the handicapped?”)

The full Charter Amendment can be read at the City’s site (PDF).

I hope that I am wrong about my conclusions and assumptions. If so, please correct me. Please, someone argue for this Charter Amendment; I simply do not understand granting the Government this power that so clearly strips us all of our private property rights.

Technorati Tags: charlottesville, eminent domain, politics, real estate

PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA (November 21, 2005)

Sec. 50.7. Powers relating to housing and community development.

In addition to the powers granted by other sections of this charter and any other provision of law,
the city shall have the power:

(a)[1] To acquire land or buildings in the city for the purpose of providing housing for low or moderate income persons or for elderly or handicapped persons;

[2] to rehabilitate and dispose of any such land and buildings by lease or sale to low or moderate income persons or elderly or handicapped persons;

[3] to dispose of such land and buildings by lease or sale to any nonprofit or limited profit organization which has as a principal purpose the provision or development of housing for low or moderate income persons or elderly or handicapped persons;

[4] to construct residential buildings in the city for lease or sale to low or moderate income persons or elderly or handicapped persons, or for lease or sale to a nonprofit or limited profit organization which has as its principal purpose the provision or development of housing for low or moderate income persons, or elderly or handicapped persons;

[5] to make grants and loans of funds to low or moderate income persons to aid in the purchase of any land or building in the city including, but not limited to, land and buildings which have been rehabilitated by the city or by a nonprofit or limited profit organization which has its principal purpose the development of housing for low or moderate income persons;

[6] and to offer real estate tax deferrals to low or moderate income persons who own any land or buildings described herein.

(b)[7] To make grants of funds to owners of dwellings or dwelling units in the city for the purpose of subsidizing, in part, the rental payments due and owing to any such owner by a low or moderate income person;

[8] to acquire any dwellings or dwelling units in the city for the purpose of providing housing to low or moderate income persons, and to dispose of such dwellings or dwelling units, by sale or lease, to low or moderate income persons or to a nonprofit organization or limited profit organization which has as its principal purpose the provision or development of housing for low or moderate income persons;

[9] to make grants and loans of funds to low and moderate income persons to aid in the purchase of dwellings or dwelling units in the city;

[10] and to offer real estate tax deferrals to low or moderate income persons who own a dwelling acquired from the city, a nonprofit organization or a limited profit organization under a program established hereunder.

(c)[11] To issue tax-exempt bonds for the acquisition, rehabilitation and provision of housing for low or moderate income persons; provided, that prior to any action authorizing the issuance of such bonds, the city council finds affirmatively that such action is necessary to provide an adequate supply of such housing in the city.

For purposes of this section, the phrase, “low or moderate income persons” shall have the same meaning as the phrase “persons and families of low and moderate income,” as that phrased is used in the Virginia Housing Development Authority Act, and shall be applied using the income guidelines issued by the Virginia Housing Development Authority for use in its single family mortgage loan program.

In addition to being able to exercise the above-mentioned powers with city funds, the city is authorized to participate in any state or federal program related thereto and to use state, federal or private funds in the exercise of such powers.

[12] The exercise of any of the powers granted in this section is hereby declared to be a public purpose and public use

For a bit more reading on redistribution of wealth, read this.