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Written by Richard A. Epstein; Hoover Digest
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Thursday, 07 August 2008 23:28 |
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For those of you that think the 2005 Supreme Court case, Kelo vs City of New London was no big deal, you might be tempted to rethink the issue after reading this:
Hamlet condemned “the law’s delay.” He might have had second thoughts had he lived today in the Village of Port Chester, northeast of New York City. There the sharp-elbowed world of real estate development shows why moving too fast can be just as dangerous as moving too slowly.
In 1999, Port Chester established a redevelopment area in which new projects could be built only after getting approval from a village-designated private individual, Gregory Wasser, to whom the municipality inexplicably delegated its regulatory authority. In 2003, two owners of a plot within the redevelopment zone, Bart Didden and Domenick Bologna, asked Wasser for permission to build a CVS pharmacy. According to Didden and Bologna, Wasser responded, “Either pay me $800,000 to build or give me a piece of the action, or I’ll have the village take the property.” The day after Didden and Bologna spurned the offer, Port Chester did indeed start the takings process. Wasser then arranged for Walgreen to develop the site.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 August 2008 23:57 )
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