
The latter because a friend, fellow parishioner and
excellent chef quit his job as a chef for the Ritz-Carleton and opened a
breakfast-lunch restaurant to be able to spend time with his physically handicapped
son, who is thriving, thank you very much.
I never quite understood the detached section of the mall
or why it happened in the first place, but both these operations were doing
well and serving my, and other’s needs.
So, when I learned that a purchaser, with Venture Capital money had
purchased the lot, intending to raze this section and build apartments, I was devastated. How unfair!
Recently there was a story on NPR about how the Chinese
government was forcibly relocating many citizens in an effort to better control
the water in the country; a project that has repercussions through Southeast
Asia. Some of the displaced were setting
themselves on fire, preferring death to a relocation that would most likely
inevitably kill them anyway.
Vaguely I remember this displacement process as coming
from a tradition of Eminent Domain, a phrase that varies from government to
government, but essentially means property rights of an individual can be superseded
by a greater need for public good, or in the case of the United states, public
use.
An excellent early example is when William Penn, who was
given land to establish the Philadelphia colonies by Charles II to repay a debt,
chose to buy the land from the Lenape, who had claim to it, rather than take it
for no compensation. This practice made
its way into our constitution in both the Third (quartering of troops) and
Fifth (requiring just compensation) Amendments.

And the expansion of the practice from federal/national,
to local/municipal, brings into play exactly the issue with my two
friends. If it is perceived there is an
economic advantage to the municipality to convert from one business or use to
another, the pressure to surrender one’s property, or in the case of these two
businesses, cancelling leases expected to be continued, can be overwhelming.
I recently talked to Dee Nguyen, my chef friend, who told
me that another property, relatively close will be refurbished with appropriate
leasehold improvements and a seven-year lease shortly after the first of the
year. Dr. Anderson is included in a
similar arrangement, and the apartments may very well prove to add to their
customer base.
So, I am more comfortable now than I was several months
ago. I am also glad that I live in the
middle of a block with seemingly no utilitarian use other than residential.
My next Post should be close to two events that are dear
to me: The Marine Corps Birthday and
Veteran’s Day. So I think I’ll see what’s
current with Medal of Honor. Come visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment