Group Claims RhodeMap RI Could Open Door for Eminent Domain Abuse
GoLocalProv News Team
Group Claims RhodeMap RI Could Open Door for Eminent Domain Abuse
The law was a response to the Kelo v. City of New London decision by the Supreme Court in 2008. The Supreme Court allowed local governments to seize property from a single private person and give it to another which prompted legislature in Rhode Island to pass the RI Home and Business Protection Act of 2008 - a law meant to limit this potential abuse in Rhode Island.
CEO Mike Stenhouse of the RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity claims that the same law allows for exceptions when a local economic development plan is put into place - not unlike RhodeMap RI. The Rhode Island Center of Freedom theorizes that there are four potential government entities that could take advantage of the “eminent domain” clause and seize or infringe upon the property of landowners including:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST1.) The federal government in Washington, DC, which conceived the RhodeMap RI core principles and funded the plan, with HUD providing funding for the growth centers
2.) The state of Rhode Island which will adopt the plan
3.) The regional Urban Redevelopment Authority, to be created by RhodeMap RI, unelected bureaucrats who would implement the plan
4.) Local municipalities that would aid in planning the growth centers and would raise property taxes to help fund them
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island's premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.