California Gym and IJ Vow to Fight Eminent Domain
Abuse
WEB RELEASE: July 18, 2007
CONTACT:
Bob Ewing
(703) 682-9320
[Property
Rights]
Arlington, Va.—Last night, National City
officials unanimously approved the extension of eminent domain authority over a
popular nonprofit boxing gym and more than 600 other properties.
Every day for more than a year, inner city kids going to
the local boxing center have been faced with a “Coming Soon” sign
showing fancy condos in place of their gym. So it comes as no surprise
that the City Council, by a vote of 3-0, gave itself the power to take the gym
and hand it to a private developer at any time during the next 10
years.
“We’re going to fight the city’s
outrageous plan to take away our gym so a developer can build condos for rich
people,” said Victor Nuñez, vice president of the Community Youth
Athletic Center (CYAC) and a San Diego County Deputy District Attorney.
“We’re doing what we teach our kids to do; we’re standing up
for what is right.”
The CYAC—a nonprofit in National City that teaches
boxing to low-income, minority kids and helps them stay off the streets and
avoid gangs—announced on June 19, 2007 that it was working with the
Institute for Justice (IJ) to oppose the eminent domain proposal. IJ is a
national public interest law firm with a long and successful history of
fighting eminent domain for private gain.
Now that the city has voted, the gym has no choice but to
fight back. Under California law, owners have three months to file a
legal challenge after the City Council votes to approve the eminent domain
authorization. After that, most of their rights are waived. If the
gym waits until the city actually goes to court to take the building, it will
be too late to do anything about it legally.
“National City has completely ignored state law by
going ahead with its plans to replace this working class community with upscale
development,” said Dana Berliner, senior attorney at the Institute for
Justice. “In 2006, California passed a law requiring cities and
redevelopment agencies to have better evidence and documentation for the need
for eminent domain. When we told National City officials that their
process violated this law, they didn’t even blink.”
“The city is using a bogus study to declare
thriving, though humble, businesses ‘blighted’ so their property
can be transferred to private developers,” added IJ Staff Attorney Jeff
Rowes. “The gym intends to fight this outrage in court, not only
for itself, but to establish precedent to protect all Californians.”
The California Supreme Court has not taken a case in three
decades addressing statutory and constitutional limitations on
redevelopment. With so many Californians facing gross eminent domain
abuse, the time is ripe for the California Supreme Court to consider this
important issue and rein in this awesome power of government.