Eminent domain ruling returns
to bite Supreme Court justice
High court jurist’s house to be razed for new
hotel?
By Steven Miller
BusinessNevada
In the wake
of last
week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s widely criticized
Kelo
vs. City of New London
eminent domain decision, a Los Angeles media company is
seeking to make at least one high court justice experience
first hand the meaning of his action.
On Thursday,
June 23, the U.S. Supreme Count ruled that local governments
can seize the private property of homeowners or small business
for development by other private companies if local
politicians decide such takings will produce more tax revenue
for them to spend.
Accordingly, on Monday, June 27,
Freestar Media Group, a limited liability corporation,
notified the code enforcement office of the City of Weare, New
Hampshire, that Freestar is entering real estate development
and intends to build a hotel on land in Weare currently owned
by one David H. Souter—not so coincidentally, a justice on the
same U.S. Supreme Court.
Faxed to Code
Enforcement Officer Chip Meany was the following letter:
Monday, June
27, 2005
Mr. Chip
Meany
Code
Enforcement Officer
Town of
Weare, New Hampshire
Fax
603-529-4554
Dear Mr.
Meany,
I am
proposing to build a hotel at 34 Cilley Hill Road in the Town
of Weare. I would like to know the process your town has for
allowing such a development.
Although this
property is owned by an individual, David H. Souter, a recent
Supreme Court decision, “Kelo vs. City of New London” clears
the way for this land to be taken by the Government of Weare
through eminent domain and given to my LLC for the purposes of
building a hotel. The justification for such an eminent domain
action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest
as it will bring in economic development and higher tax
revenue to Weare.
As I
understand it your town has five people serving on the Board
of Selectmen. Therefore, since it will require only three
people to vote in favor of the use of eminent domain I am
quite confident that this hotel development is a viable
project. I am currently seeking investors and hotel plans from
an architect. Please let me know the proper steps to follow to
proceed in accordance with the law in your town.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Logan Darrow
Clements
Freestar
Media, LLC
An
accompanying press release explains why no property other than
34 Cilley Hill Road will serve the public interest:
“The proposed
development, called ‘The Lost Liberty Hotel,’ will feature the
‘Just Desserts Café’ and include a museum, open to the public,
featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in
America. Instead of a Gideon’s Bible each guest will receive a
free copy of Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged.”
Clements
explained that the hotel must be built on this particular
piece of land because it is a unique site—being the home of
someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for
all Americans.
Freestar Media has been deluged by attention since announcing
the Lost Liberty Hotel project. On Tuesday, June 18, its
website recorded over 380,000 unique visitors and is still
logging record traffic, loading only after some significant
delay.
The
company has posted a notice saying, “PLEASE DO NOT SEND E-MAIL
OR CALL US unless you are an accredited investor capable of
high risk investments of $75K or greater or a member of the
media. This is NOT an offer to sell securities however. If you
are in the media make sure your station name appears on your
outgoing caller ID as we must screen calls. Thank you to all
the well-wishers but please don't send any more e-mails or
make any more phone calls. We are overwhelmed.”,
