The L.A. Times reports on a whopper of an eminent domain case:
In what has been called the largest eminent-domain case in the nation, the mayor and other elected leaders want to move about 6,000 residents, tear down their homes and use the emptied 400-acre site to build a waterfront yachting and residential complex for the well-to-do. The goal, Mayor Michael D. Brown said during a public meeting in September, is to “forever change the landscape” in this municipality of about 32,500. The $1-billion plan, local leaders have said, should generate jobs and haul Riviera Beach’s economy out of the doldrums. Opponents, however, call the plan a government-sanctioned land grab that benefits private developers and the wealthy. “What they mean is that the view I have is too good for me, and should go to some millionaire,” said Martha Babson, 60, a house painter who lives near the Intracoastal Waterway. “This is a reverse Robin Hood,” said state Rep. Ronald L. Greenstein, meaning the poor in Riviera Beach would be robbed to benefit the rich. Greenstein, a Coconut Creek Democrat, serves on a state legislative committee making recommendations on how to strengthen safeguards on private property.
This is one to keep an eye on. Full article here.