« The City of Dacula is trying to steal Sam Hinton's property »

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The City of Dacula wants to build a new park in downtown.  The proposed park would be located on a site comprised of four parcels of land including a lot owned by Sam Hinton.  The city has already purchased three of the parcels. There's a small problem, however: Sam Hinton does not want to sell his property at Second Avenue and Wilson Street.  That should be the end of it, right?  Not to the Dacula City Council.  They are not taking "no" for an answer and apparently think that, because they want to build a park and because they have bought the other three properties, that they should just be able to take Hinton's property against his will.  In the world of you and I, that is called "stealing."  In the world of government, that is called "eminent doman."

At tonight's city council meeting (7 p.m. at City Hall), the council will consider whether to force Sam Hinton to sell his property to the city.  There is no other way to characterize this move but as an unconscionable power play by council members.  Hinton offers other reasons as to why building this park is an unwise move but those rebuttals are unnecessary (though, I will note, he makes some valid points).  The fact that Mr. Hinton does not want to sell his land, land that has been in his family for well over a century, is reason enough that the City should not build the park.  

The City's response is that they need the Hinton parcel to access city property during construction of the park.  The City might have an argument had Hinton purchased the lot in bad faith in order to block park construction.  However, the City purchased the other three parcels for the park before they secured the Hinton property.  Why should the purchases made by the City obligate Hinton to sell his land?  They should not.  The City might also have a legitimate position if access to their property was entirely precluded by Hinton's property.  However, though I cannot be sure that the property lines shown in the above map are accurate, there is no property in the vicinity of Hinton's lot that lacks street access.  Sorry, city council members, but not having enough space to carry out the project you envision should not allow you to effectively steal a man's property.  

To be sure there are cases where eminent domain is used in a legitimate manner, cases where a government has critical need for a particular piece of property.  The United States Constitution permits such "takings" in the Fifth Amendment.  That being said, all too often governments abuse this power (see my Recommended Reading below, Government Pirates, for numerous examples).  I see this case as legal theft since this park is not critical - no matter how you define critical - to the citizens of Dacula.  If I walk into my neighbor's house and take an autographed football for which he has refused my offers to buy, even if I leave a check for the true value of the ball, do you think a court would turn me loose simply because I paid for the stolen property?  Highly doubtful.  So, why should we not expect our elected officials, even if they can do essentially the same thing legally, to follow the same standard?  Taking Hinton's property, despite its legality, violates the spirit of the rights that defines America.

The irony of this abuse of power is that just two years ago, officials of this same city were opposed to a move by Gwinnett County to designate the area surrounding Dacula as rural, a move which they felt would be a drag on economic development in the area.  This was a property rights issue and the city was correct in their position.  Now, hypocritically, that same city is set to deprive one of their long-time citizens of his property rights.  Dacula residents, do you demand better leadership from your city council?  Do you expect them to honor and respect basic property rights?  If so, it is incumbent on you to be heard, to loudly tell your elected officials to not take Sam Hinton's property.  If you can, show up at the council meeting tonight.  If you cannot make it, call city hall (770-963-7451) or email them (citydacula@charter.net).  Make them understand that if they take Sam Hinton's property against his will, you will take away their jobs at the next election.  As we saw last November, America has had enough of politicians trampling all over our freedoms in the name of big government.  Apparently, the Dacula City Council missed that message.  Make them hear it and stand up for your neighbor, Sam Hinton, and his basic American rights as a property owner.