Kelo Strikes In Texas

Looks like at least one Texas town had a vested interest in Kelo coming out as it did -- and is wasting no time to make its move to seize the property of two businesses in order to give to another, all in the name of economic development.

With Thursday's Supreme Court decision, Freeport officials instructed attorneys to begin preparing legal documents to seize three pieces of waterfront property along the Old Brazos River from two seafood companies for construction of an $8 million private boat marina.

The court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that cities may bulldoze people's homes or businesses to make way for shopping malls or other private development. The decision gives local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.

"This is the last little piece of the puzzle to put the project together," Freeport Mayor Jim Phillips said of the project designed to inject new life in the Brazoria County city's depressed downtown area.

Over the years, Freeport's lack of commercial and retail businesses has meant many of its 13,500 residents travel to neighboring Lake Jackson, which started as a planned community in 1943, to spend money. But the city is hopeful the marina will spawn new economic growth.

"This will be the engine that will drive redevelopment in the city," City Manager Ron Bottoms said.

Lee Cameron, director of the city's Economic Development Corp., said the marina is expected to attract $60 million worth of hotels, restaurants and retail establishments to the city's downtown area and create 150 to 250 jobs. He said three hotels, two of which have "high interest," have contacted the city about building near the marina.

"It's all dependent on the marina," Cameron said. "Without the marina, (the hotels) aren't interested. With the marina, (the hotels) think it's a home run."

So what's the problem? Increased tax revenue, new jobs, increased tax revenue, retail establishments in town, increased tax revenue, nice restaruants, increased tax revenue -- those are all good things, aren't they?

Well, not if you happen to be one of the two businesses that own the property where the new marina is to be built. Nor if you are one of the employees. No mention is made of how many jobs will be lost when the two seafood companies close, or how much revenue will be taken out of the community.

Since September 2003, the city has been locked in a legal battle to acquire a 300-by-60-foot tract of land along the Old Brazos River near the Pine Street bridge as well as a 200-foot tract and 100-foot tract along the river through eminent domain from Western Seafood Co. and Trico Seafood Co.

Eminent domain is the right of a government to take private property for public use upon payment of the fair market value.

The tracts of land would be used for a planned 800- to 900-slip marina to be built by Freeport Marina, a group that that includes Dallas developer Hiram Walker Royall. He would buy the property from the city and receive a $6 million loan from the city to develop the project.

Freeport Marina would then invest $1 million in the project and contribute a 1,100-foot tract of land, valued at $750,000, to it before receiving the loan.

* * *

Gore said Western Seafood's 30,000-square-foot processing facility, which sits on the 300-by-60-foot tract, would be forced to close if the land were seized.

That facility earns about $40 million annually, and Western Seafood has been in business in Freeport since 1946, he said.

City officials, however, have said the marina will still allow Western Seafood and Trico Seafood, which did not return telephone calls or e-mail Thursday, to operate their facilities.

Now hold on here. You are going to shut down a business that pulls in $40,000,000 ANNUALLY to build this marina? I say this because, despite city assurances, we all know tha the two businesses will not remain open all that long. Such facilities are generally not attractive to look at, and they carry with them an overwhelming smell of (surprise! surprise!) seafood. The new property owners will want these neighbors gone before too long -- or the other new businesses will. Besides, if the land where the two processing factories sit isn't needed for the development of the marian and related facilities, why does it need to be taken via eminent domain and transferred to the marina developers?

Now there is hope for the two companies under state law, but I doubt that they will be able to pull this one off. After all, the town government will just point up the coast to Kemah and make grand promises of what is coming. It is an attractive vision -- but at what cost in terms of liberty.

(Hat Tip -- Darth Apathy)

Posted by: Greg at 04:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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