Eminent Domain Revisited

[Hypestyles]

http://www.freep.com/article/2010080...eminent-domain

Hmm.. if selectively applied, this could still be useful.. I hope Bing moves soon with his "Rightsizing" plan-- certainly to get any large scale redevelopment, i.e., relocate a factory or other businesses, they need larger tracts of land that are not remotely easy to patch together right now.. you can't realistically expect some neighborhood blocks to repopulate any time soon if ever.. the devastation is too vast..

[Huggybear]

The State of Michigan will no doubt need eminent domain in the very near function for a number of reasons, including but not limited to industrial site preparation [[not a Detroit-only problem) and cutting back on a completely unsustainable road infrastructure.

A cynic might observe that the people of Michigan were hell bent on punishing a black city for displacing a bunch of white residents and that they did so in a move not unlike cutting off one's own nose to spite one's face.

A pity that the state has chosen suicide. But Michigan has an excellent track record of subsizing sprawl, proliferating municipalities, gutting education, and hamstringing a lot of smaller communities that need to raise their property tax assessments to survive.

[sumas]

Eminent Domain was used and abused by the City of Detroit for way too long. Neighborhoods eliminated for the common good? Think Poletown, Graimark, Grayhaven to name only a few.

My blood boils and I don't want to expend my energy. I could write volumes on how this law was abused.

[casscorridor]

Michigan needs to try something radical with Detroit, but within the framework of urbanity, and transforming Detroit into a true urban city. This means concentrating development at the center, and at least doubling if not quadrupling the density of the center. Will this require eminent domain? I don't know. But I do know that a plan to revive Detroit will not come unless we start thinking of the entire metro as one city, that for 50 years has had a rotting center, and a major city can't exist without a center. We need to "shrink the city" or "right size" but on a metro-region-wide scale, not the just within the official city limits.

I don't really see NYC having large assemblages of land for factories, why should Detroit? I think the idea that we need to make room for large factories is silly, and if we made "metro Detroit" into one city, it wouldn't be an issue. The tax money from the factory would benefit the entire metro city. What we need is dense vibrant urban blocks, and in Detroit those can be counted on one hand. West Willis Street at Cass, E Grand River at Broadway, and a few other pockets here and there. This is what the whole central city needs to be! We also need to start thinking bigger than just one light-rail line. We need an entire system that serves the whole region, but with Downtown at the center as the hub, so that jobs are accessible in and out of the city, people can move and an out of the city efficiently and rapidly.

I wonder if Michigan's leaders have ever lived in a functioning city. I have my doubts, because if they did they would see how Michigan is extremely backwards and far behind other states with major cities. I feel like Michigan is in a constant state of delusion. We can't keep on keeping on letting our central city rot, or else it will bring down the entire state. Young people as well as families are fleeing at a rapid pace, this is no joke. And the only way to reverse this is to have a vibrant urban center capable of attracting new residents, which as of now does not exist in Michigan.

[Novine]

"I wonder if Michigan's leaders have ever lived in a functioning city. I have my doubts, because if they did they would see how Michigan is extremely backwards and far behind other states with major cities."

A couple of questions for the candidates for Governor would be "What great city should Detroit aspire to match and what makes that city great?"

[mwilbert]

I don't see how creating large assemblages of land and having a denser downtown are contradictory; They would seem to complement each other. No one wants to build a factory on Larned, but by excluding activities from large areas of the city for future industrial development [[or any other reason) the people that were there previously will increase the density of some other place, not implausibly someplace in the city.

[MCP-001]

Not going to happen.

Michigan voters amended the Constitution in '06 to ban what Prof. Mogk is proposing.

Michigan Constitution, Art X, § 2 Eminent domain; compensation.

Sec. 2. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation therefore being first made or secured in a manner prescribed by law. If private property consisting of an individual’s principal residence is taken for public use, the amount of compensation made and determined for that taking shall be not less than 125% of that property’s fair market value, in addition to any other reimbursement allowed by law. Compensation shall be determined in proceedings in a court of record.

“Public use” does not include the taking of private property for transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues. Private property otherwise may be taken for reasons of public use as that term is understood on the effective date of the amendment to this constitution that added this paragraph....

[Hermod]

"I wonder if Michigan's leaders have ever lived in a functioning city. I have my doubts, because if they did they would see how Michigan is extremely backwards and far behind other states with major cities."

A couple of questions for the candidates for Governor would be "What great city should Detroit aspire to match and what makes that city great?"

1. Is it the state capitol with a large number of government buildings anchoring the downtown? No.

2. Do large numbers of corporations and financial institutions make the city their national or regional headquarters with dedicated high rise buildings downtown? No.

3. Is the city a "mecca" for retail from the surrounding area? No.

4. Is the city a transportation nexus for rail or highway? No.

[canuck]

Michigan needs to try something radical with Detroit, but within the framework of urbanity, and transforming Detroit into a true urban city. This means concentrating development at the center, and at least doubling if not quadrupling the density of the center. Will this require eminent domain? I don't know. But I do know that a plan to revive Detroit will not come unless we start thinking of the entire metro as one city, that for 50 years has had a rotting center, and a major city can't exist without a center. We need to "shrink the city" or "right size" but on a metro-region-wide scale, not the just within the official city limits.

I don't really see NYC having large assemblages of land for factories, why should Detroit? I think the idea that we need to make room for large factories is silly, and if we made "metro Detroit" into one city, it wouldn't be an issue. The tax money from the factory would benefit the entire metro city. What we need is dense vibrant urban blocks, and in Detroit those can be counted on one hand. West Willis Street at Cass, E Grand River at Broadway, and a few other pockets here and there. This is what the whole central city needs to be! We also need to start thinking bigger than just one light-rail line. We need an entire system that serves the whole region, but with Downtown at the center as the hub, so that jobs are accessible in and out of the city, people can move and an out of the city efficiently and rapidly.

I wonder if Michigan's leaders have ever lived in a functioning city. I have my doubts, because if they did they would see how Michigan is extremely backwards and far behind other states with major cities. I feel like Michigan is in a constant state of delusion. We can't keep on keeping on letting our central city rot, or else it will bring down the entire state. Young people as well as families are fleeing at a rapid pace, this is no joke. And the only way to reverse this is to have a vibrant urban center capable of attracting new residents, which as of now does not exist in Michigan.

100% right about revitalizing the core CC but are there any other samples of "dense vibrant urban blocks" you can think about. These two dont make the cut for me. The Y building looks good but again why does anyone have to go all around the place to the plaza to get in. It is more or less faceless. Maybe in terms of security, architects have to reduce points of entry? What prevented the Y people to add a sidewalk cafe or open up to the street? Why the white glazing all the way to the plaza entrance? I'm thinking it would have been more appropriate to remodel an older underused building.

[JTistle1]

Not going to happen.

Michigan voters amended the Constitution in '06 to ban what Prof. Mogk is proposing.

Michigan Constitution, Art X, § 2 Eminent domain; compensation.

Sec. 2. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation therefore being first made or secured in a manner prescribed by law. If private property consisting of an individual’s principal residence is taken for public use, the amount of compensation made and determined for that taking shall be not less than 125% of that property’s fair market value, in addition to any other reimbursement allowed by law. Compensation shall be determined in proceedings in a court of record.

“Public use” does not include the taking of private property for transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues. Private property otherwise may be taken for reasons of public use as that term is understood on the effective date of the amendment to this constitution that added this paragraph....

I know I was speaking to a homeowner in the area of 7 mile and Hoover the other day. He was stating that only 4 people on his block have mortgages. He bought his house 15 years ago and still owes on it. However, a year or so ago, the house at the corner sold for 10,000 dollars. There went his property value.In the past year the two houses on either side of him sold for under 1600 dollars. What that means is he is paying close to his current property value, every month when he pays his mortgage. Seems to me that it means 125% of the properties fair market value is not even 2000 dollars, and that's for a inhabitable house, what about for the uninhabitable houses?

[canuck]

That is pretty sad! I hope someone there is a plan to relocate people who have invested in Detroit and maintained their properties; paid their dues to the city all these years. I think that the folks who managed to stay in Detroit in spite of the letdowns should have a chance at a property swap in areas that would be maintained on the urban grid vs the bulldozed or what have you. Michigan isnt hit so often by the kind of natural disasters that hit other states. Maybe its time for some homeowners to get relief. There has to be a creative way to help people in these situations, especially since Detroit needs people who care for the city.

[Huggybear]

A few post-collapse economic development projects are what makes your blood boil? The use of the core "governmental function" eminent domain - which Michigan always recognized and still does - makes those things look like peanuts. Consider what the State of Michigan did.

Drive down I-96, especially through the miles of express/local local lanes, and do a mental computation of how much space, how many houses, and how many businesses got wiped out so that commuters didn't have to drive down Grand River. Now multiply that by the Lodge [[loss of commercial structures), I-75/I-375 [[commercial and residential structures), the Southfield Freeway [[every commercial structure fronting Southfield Road), and the Davison connector [[and the later Davison expansion). This is what would make my blood boil - destruction that in no way benefited Detroit, directly destroying some commercial corridors and indirectly sapping others.

Against this, Poletown [[displacing 1,300 houses), Greyhaven [[of which not much was even left), and Graimark [[133 houses) are peanuts by comparison. One was a bid to get some kind of capital investment by the auto industry, one was a bid to rebuild a neighborhood that had, by most accounts, completely failed, and one was tied to some effort to stabilize the population for the census.

What caused eminent domain to blow up with the Michigan Supreme Court in 2004 and the constitutional amendment was Pinnacle Aeropark, where Wayne County decided to take an amount of land three times the size of the entire Poletown site to build a commercial development off the airport. That later morphed into the Aerotropolis. So in the end, it wasn't Poletown that caused resentment leading to a change in the law [[if that was going to happen, it would have happened in the mid-1980s); it was Wayne County's attempt to take an absolutely gigantic amount of land from suburban interests that mobilized the anti-eminent domain people. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision said that eminent domain for commercial purposes did not violate the federal constitution and left the issue to the states. That's the point at which that amendment went in.

I don't think that eminent domain was quite the menace that people think. Even under the post-Poletown setup, there were two checks and balances on the process. One was that you needed a legislative finding. Two was that you would end up litigating the price [[usually to some multiple of market value). It was always a tool that worked well for empty parcels but was both bureaucratic and expensive for occupied land. If your goal was to take out two houses on a blown-out block, you would pay big for them - and it was even more so with commercial property. Witness that the derelict Gem and Century Club were moved and renovated on what was paid in the Comerica Park land reshuffling.

Eminent Domain was used and abused by the City of Detroit for way too long. Neighborhoods eliminated for the common good? Think Poletown, Graimark, Grayhaven to name only a few.

My blood boils and I don't want to expend my energy. I could write volumes on how this law was abused.

[canuck]

Is there any chance of amending the law so that any property expropriated above 8 Mile is deemed
Eminem Domain and anything below just plain Eminent Domain?

[Islandman]

Eminem Domain..

[MCP-001]

Is there any chance of amending the law so that any property expropriated above 8 Mile is deemed
Eminem Domain and anything below just plain Eminent Domain?

Ouch!

[Wesley Mouch]

'Eminem' Domain is a powerful tool. It can be abused [[see my behaviour in literature).

I love Detroit. During a heart attack you use an AED to 'shock' the patient to life.

Detroit needs the ability to adapt to the times.

Moderate this power later.

Save the patient.

[JJD]

My family's home was taken via eminent domain in 1999 in order to build the school for the performing arts behind Orchestra Hall. While we did have amotional ties to the house [[Historic Victorian that my parents has spent 25 years renovating), We were well compensated for the land and bought another Victorian of similar size 2 blocks away and removated it. The only problem I see with it, is that it might contribute even more to flight from the city. Of the people on our block who were "bought out" we are the only ones who stayed in Detroit.

[boogiechillen]

The only problem I see with it, is that it might contribute even more to flight from the city. Of the people on our block who were "bought out" we are the only ones who stayed in Detroit.

Interesting point. There are plenty of monolithic buildings around that formerly housed industry and could be used to make way for new industry instead of using eminent domain to achieve the same end. The Packard and Fisher Body Plants are two that come to mind. Either adapt these buildings [[probably impossible in the case of the Packard) or tear that shit down to make way for something new. Don't force people out of their homes. They probably won't come back.

[fryar]

That is pretty sad! I hope someone there is a plan to relocate people who have invested in Detroit and maintained their properties; paid their dues to the city all these years. I think that the folks who managed to stay in Detroit in spite of the letdowns should have a chance at a property swap in areas that would be maintained on the urban grid vs the bulldozed or what have you. Michigan isnt hit so often by the kind of natural disasters that hit other states. Maybe its time for some homeowners to get relief. There has to be a creative way to help people in these situations, especially since Detroit needs people who care for the city.

Hear, hear. I'm all for shrinking the city, but it's pretty much got to be along the lines of a property swap, or fair compensation that is a multiple of the home's current FMV. All those dedicated outposts of humanity among the devastation, they're an asset.
Nope, I got no clue as to where the money for that comes from, but we can't just throw people out on the street and tell them they're on their own, here's 1200 buckaroos, bucko.

[JBMcB]

Hear, hear. I'm all for shrinking the city, but it's pretty much got to be along the lines of a property swap, or fair compensation that is a multiple of the home's current FMV.

I thought it would be a good idea to fix up abandonded homes in established neighborhoods, then offering them to people who live in the more desolate parts of the city. One fixed-up home in exchange for your current home. I bet you could clear out good chunks of nearly-dead neighborhoods without the use of eminent domain with this method.

[canuck]

Hear, hear. I'm all for shrinking the city, but it's pretty much got to be along the lines of a property swap, or fair compensation that is a multiple of the home's current FMV. All those dedicated outposts of humanity among the devastation, they're an asset.
Nope, I got no clue as to where the money for that comes from, but we can't just throw people out on the street and tell them they're on their own, here's 1200 buckaroos, bucko.

Exactly, where are you going to get that kind of dedication? From absentee investors in Europe or the middle east? Seriously, the people who should be helped in something like a property swap [[repo'd by the city say) are the homeowners who stuck with Detroit for good or ill. It's nice to see industrial investment come and be subsidized to a degree, but how about taking care of folks who have a real stake. The city probably will have to take some hard decisions in that department. But I think there have to be ways of enhancing some well balanced streets and determining those that will not be serviced anymore; concentrating efforts and resources in areas where people have also shown an avid interest in their neighborhoods, etc...

[canuck]

I thought it would be a good idea to fix up abandonded homes in established neighborhoods, then offering them to people who live in the more desolate parts of the city. One fixed-up home in exchange for your current home. I bet you could clear out good chunks of nearly-dead neighborhoods without the use of eminent domain with this method.

Yup, something like that. With property values the way they are, a new start can be beneficial. If Detroit had what New York and L.A. got in the nineties, more policing; then that might be a good start in neighborhood building. Relocation can be bewidering if done on a vast scale. Insecurity can be overcome by more help from federal help in police budgets.

One of the sadder points about Detroit which cold probably be remediated is that schools like Cass Tech which had quality in teaching and resources were closed. They might have been able to compete if the environment had an equal draw versus suburban institutions. These kinds of schools, like Wayne State are absolutely essential to the survival of the city. Imagine Wayne moving to an outlying suburb like UM at Ann Arbor. The hospital expansions in Detroit should be followed by investments in security, making adjustments so that neighborhoods around the core are provided with better infrastructure. I think Detroit is becoming a big health care destination for out of state patients. To compete on that level, smaller hotels and a certain safety net needs to be delivered. There will be money coming in from these unsuspected sources.