dennis plante said: (KR- I will comment in parenthesis)
WOW! a $139,000 jump in valuation in one year? If anything, I would say this favors the landlord. (KR- Not germane to the issue of eminent domain; just smoke, sometimes called a red herring) The thing I am left scratching my head over is how someone can plunk-down $400k for the purchase of a property and NOT know it's going to be taken for a redevelopment project a year later. (KR- More smoked red herring. For those few, on The List, curious about the history of the Lowry Corridor Project; even the County changed it's choice, over a two week period at one point, of which side of the street it would take and demolish. It finally settled on the South side. I wonder if Dennis asked anybody at the City/County if they were coming for his site, some years back, before he purchased his house on Knox? Also, 3123 is not on Lowry it is 50 feet away on 6th.) And as Keith so kindly shared with us, potential damages are being caluculated to include a years' worth of work (52 weeks) for remodeling 4 kitchens, redoing the interiors of 2 of the units and installing 35 windows (all w/o permits). (KR- More Smoke. The issue I bring forward is: A property owner's right to operate a building she owns until the point that the County owns it; either by "quick take" or market purchase. And, that was not damages but a factor in her basis; the value of her building. Now, what would you like to do about the, possible, no permit? The options are limited: We do not have capital punishment in this state, so firing squad is out. Board her building up. Already done. By the way: If she had bootlegged, and if she had been caught, she would have been double-fee'd for the lack of a proper permit. Again, the issue I bring forward is an eminent domain policy, implementation issue. Oh well Dennis, I guess you won't credit, to her, the painting inside and out, etc.? What do you "kindly" charge for that in an 8 unit, painter?) Yet, no one has been willing to confirm whether or not the owner was compensated by the tennants when they moved-out with relocation monies receved from the City/County. Something which was asserted needed to be done, by Megan G., in an earlier post. ( I do not know what the above sentence means? Might be smoked red herring, again?) Clearly, to be fair (and I am sure it will only be shared in litigation), we need to know the dates when everything related to this transpired. (Again, The City/County meddled with her tenants by paying them to exit a building the City/County does not own. This causes huge stress on the property owner, boarding of the building, and ultimately criminal trespass and substantial damage occurred. And the story is still evolving; I would not be the least surprised if trespassers eventually burn the building down thus endangering life and limb on the block. When did the current owner receive notification that the property would be acquired through emminent domain? (KR- Almost a fair question in other circumstances. Still, fair treatment, during the eminent domain process, does not include strong-arm that goes beyond bullying to extortion. Larry Blackstad, the County's point man on the Lowry Corridor Project, effectively showed up and said "Here is my offer; accept it or I will pour gasoline in your hallway, light it, and your building will be boarded up. He caused her building to be boarded up by emptying it before he owned it; same boards as if he had dropped a bomb on it. The same boards. And this extortion was funded with government money) Has anyone determined whether or not the City/County acted inappropriately by notifying the tennants when they did and explaining their rights to them? (KR- I did. It was totally inappropriate; although possibly legal. And even required by federal law based on the date 3 or 4 months ago?) the County notified each of us of impending eminent domain taking. The problem is in the way Larry Blackstad as cat's paw for the process, didn't QuickTake the property, and become owner while allowing the clock to run out on his obligation to offer moving opportunity to the tenants. The banality of his malice in creating this situation for an innocent lady should cost him his last three promotions or he should be dismissed. Further, doing his job properly means recognizing that eminent domain is a delicate issue and should not create a boarded building ripe for trespassers which might take months to become County property. He is stalling. And I know why he is stalling; and it is incredibly banal.) The flipside to what I am hearing is that the City/County needs to succesfully negotiate with each and every landlord/homeowner in the path of the redevelopment prior to starting the development. What ahppens if someone decides to uncooperative and hold-out for an unreasonable amount? Do we put the redelopment off indefinitely? (KR- Nope. Simply put: City/County, when you are ready to take, or purchase, property for your purpose.-- 1/Get your appraisals. 2/Bring um' , with your City/County checkbook. 3/ If sellers do not like how many zeros are on the check; just take the property and give um the check and say "If you want more; see you in court. 4/Relocate the tenants of the building you now own.) dennis plante lind-bohanon (Keith Reitman NearNorth) (KR--- PS- What if the County wandered over to a hypothetical painting contractor and said, " We want to eminent domain your company. We will offer you a price that you feel is inadequate. You may not do any further painting until this process is complete. Now; step away from the paintbrush and we will be done with you before 12.31.05. I said step away from the paintbrush. And the bucket, too.") REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
