Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Eminent-domain strikes again, I dare you to defend it.

Ustwo · 12-15-2003, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Pa. high court refuses to hear case to save Saha family's Chesco farm
Officials say the 48-acre parcel is key to revitalizing Coatesville. The family has now run out of legal options.
Associated Press

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of a Chester County family fighting to save its 48-acre horse farm from being turned into a golf course.

Dick and Nancy Saha of Valley Township have been battling for more than four years to prevent the city of Coatesville from seizing their land for a recreation complex.

"It's devastating," Rick Saha, the couple's son, said of the Supreme Court's refusal to take the case. The decision exhausted the Sahas' legal options.

Coatesville city officials said they hoped the one-sentence order handed down by the state's highest court on Tuesday would allow the two sides to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.

"I'm hoping this will open up the door so we can at least sit down and talk," Coatesville City Councilwoman Carmen Green said.

Coatesville wants to seize the Sahas' property as part of plans for a $60 million recreation complex that would include a golf course, bowling alley and skating rinks. City Manager Paul Janssen has said the park is a key part of efforts to revitalize Coatesville, an old steel town that lost thousands of jobs in the 1970s and 1980s.

The legal fight has revolved around a Pennsylvania law that allows cities, even small ones such as Coatesville, which has a population of 11,000, to seize property in adjoining municipalities if it serves a public interest. In April, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled that Coatesville could legally take the property, even though it is in neighboring Valley Township.

City officials have said the plan would allow the Sahas to retain the small corner of the property that contains their home, a 250-year-old farmhouse that they rebuilt. The Sahas have lived on the farm with their children for 30 years.

Though his parents are apparently out of legal options, Rick Saha said there were "other avenues" that could help the family's fight.

In November, Coatesville voters approved three amendments to the city's charter that require the city to get voter approval before condemning any land, including the Sahas'. The amendments were retroactive.

Also, owners of area golf courses, bowling alleys and ice rinks filed suit against the city in September seeking to halt construction of the recreation center.

Janssen said the city would have no immediate comment on the pending legal actions. "City Council will be meeting shortly to discuss these matters," he said.

However, Janssen said he hoped that the Sahas and the city would be able to negotiate. "We are hoping to reach a settlement that is agreeable to them and still allows for the project to proceed forward," he said.

Can there be ANY defense of this? Its for a golf course of all things, which I rather doubt is popular with our tilted friends on the left. This sort of thing is insane, and should never even get to the courts.