I’m gonna let you down, and leave you flat. . .not
I posted this earlier on another blog to which I contribute, Save Our Land. I think it bears repeating here:
I just finished reading Cool Cleveland. I always save Roldolink for last, but today I scrolled down quickly to see what had caught his fancy. I should have known that it would be Eminent Domain and the Bart Wolstein handoff. Please read this article and help me understand why we are better off with one developer in The Flats instead of a consortium of businessowners with a plan for controlled development in the area, including Mr. Wolstein.I was amazed at the laundry list of improvements that ONE developer will be receiving to make sure that his plan is a winner. If this kind of investment had been made to the infrastructure of The Flats over the years, would Eminent Domain be needed? Would we be handing over property through eminent domain?
I have had one question that still remains unanswered about this project–why are tax abatements, tax exemptions, and tax incentives needed on a piece of land that should be one of the prime real estate areas in the city of Cleveland? I wish that someone would answer this question.
I also have real reservations about handing over so much real estate to one individual to develop and manage. Free enterprise is based on competition. Where is the competition in this plan?
Recently, we talked To Council President Martin J. Sweeney at Meet the Bloggers. We devoted a few minutes of the interview to eminent-domain issues, and more specifically to the Flats project. One interesting point he made was that if The Wolstein Project does not meet expectations or if it does not perform as it should, the city will have the option to buy back the property from Mr. Wolstein.Take a minute to read Roldo’s article and to listen to the Meet The Bloggers interview with Council President Sweeney. We need to watch this eminent domain case closely.
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Posted by Gloria Ferris to Save Our Land at 5/03/2006 04:06:00 PM