Eminent Domain Runs Amok
The premise of eminent domain is simple. There are times when property needs to be secured from private ownership for public use. Highways are a common reason.
The Cetinas bought the land in the 1400 block of S. Muskego Ave. in 2002 with the idea of putting up a nightclub. That didn’t sit well with neighbors, and the Cetinas’ liquor license application for a nightclub eventually was denied by the city. That’s fine. A nightclub may not be the best use of that land, especially in the face of objections.
At the same time, the Tsitiridis family, which owns Pete’s Fruit Market, adjacent to the Cetina property, was making plans to expand their store and sought to acquire the Cetina land.
But the two families have not been able to agree on a price, and now the city has stepped in via eminent domain. Officials want to force the Cetinas to sell the land to the city, which then will sell the land to the Tsitiridises. The way the city is doing that is to declare the Cetina property blighted.
This is hardly a blighted lot by any common definition of that term. Visit the site, and you’ll find a wooden fence surrounding a property that is largely vacant except for some material in one corner covered by a blue tarp. On a recent visit, the grass was reasonably short; there was no garbage, no debris, no sign of “blight.”
The city essentially is arguing that because the property is underdeveloped, the city has the right to take the land.
If the Milwaukee Common Council goes along with this scheme everyone in Milwaukee should be wary of who will be next to lose their property. Nobody will be safe.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 4:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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