Eminent domain a big business tool

Art Sholty

Guest Column

The two things we have to do in this world is die and pay our taxes. This is a constant that never changes. However we can now add something new to this equation, something that rather disturbs me greatly and it's the term that is being used quite frequently here in Jersey - eminent domain.

My thoughts concerning this bureaucratic piece of dog feces is this: Call it compulsory purchase, compulsory acquisition, expropriation, condemnation, abuse of power or public power for private gain, but no matter what it is labeled, it is nothing but a nuisance law which takes title away from private property owners who do not wish to sell their property in the first place.

It is imminent that eminent domain will become the most important issue in states such as ours where overcrowding and pyramiding are a developers delight.

Values of real estate property have escalated to the point that just 10 years ago one couldn't give it away and now one can't purchase it at any cost. Case in point, Hoboken, N.J. Go there and try to buy something. Fifteen years ago this city looked like the south Bronx and today it has made a renaissance that rivals its neighboring towns, but at what cost?

In years gone by, Hoboken, Newark, Jersey City and Camden all were good blue collar working municipalities that slowly deteriorated due to hard times for whatever reason.

Now in this present moment in time, big business has included these cities on their "dinner plate," and anyone living in them is subject to be removed via eminent domain whether they like it or not.

Tell me that the folks in Long Branch along the beach wanted to be forcibly removed from their life long dwellings just to line the pockets of big business. I feel for them and others like themselves. It's mind boggling.

Eminent domain and the way big business uses it has caused property owners to realize that they do not own anything. Close your eyes and what do you see? I'll bet it's not a land deed because our government can and will sell it out from under you to the highest bidder. What happened in Piscataway to the Halper family? Eminent domain and the township of Piscataway caused this well -rooted family to move off of their property so that a park could utilize their land.

What will happen if the park isn't used and becomes barren or blighted? Will it then be sold to a developer for housing or industrial purposes? I wonder who might be interested in this farm? Think about it.

Eminent domain, in my opinion, is just another way for big business to be able to dictate their wishes onto those in authority for the benefit of seizing property that otherwise would not be available to them.

Again it is imminent that eminent domain will be the ruination of private property owners while this archaic law remains in effect. Now is the time for our elected officials to start the ball rolling and garbage can this big business perk.

Finally, who was or is responsible for all these elected officials around here who are going to jail because of illegal money pay offs? Was it big business or even possibly a nuisance law called eminent domain? You tell me.

Art Sholty is a resident of Brick