Recently I wrote an article about laws being enacted by the Florida Legislature to curb eminent domain abuse. The new law restricts a government entity’s ability to force the sale of private property to a private developer in order to gentrify the area or attract larger property tax revenues.
The question of eminent domain in Riviera Beach, Florida, is becoming an interesting one. The city is proceeding quickly with a contract for a 2.4 billion dollar redevelopment project, displacing some 5,000 homeowners. Governor Bush has indicated that he intends to sign the bill into law once he receives it. The city of Riviera Beach appears to be moving the project forward before the law can be enacted.
Mayor Michael Brown says that the project will benefit all residents, including those who are being displaced. “We know our enemy is now the Legislature” he says. No one denies that Riviera Beach is in serious need of economic stimulation. The city sits across the inlet from Palm Beach, yet the median household income is under $19,000 a year, and poverty is a large problem. The assessed value of the property in question is currently 80 million. The new value of the development could be as high as 2 billion. That increased revenue could pay for better roads, new schools, and Brown says “eliminate poverty from Riviera Beach”. The mayor has also previously stated that people who currently own waterfront property or have water views who are fighting the development are “cheating the poorest members of the community”.
The scope of the project and the amount of displacement is what is fueling the controversy. The mayor insists that most of those to be displaced will be relocated to newly constructed public housing, which will be a better quality than what many residents are living in now. The 2000 US Census reported that one out of every four homes in Riviera Beach has three rooms or less, which is an indicator for overcrowding. 80 homes had no plumbing, and 327 homes had no source of heat. Even in sunny south Florida, heat is necessary during the coldest months of the year.
Ironically, one of the chief opponents of the city’s action sold her house last January to a private corporation. She received about 3 times more than the appraised value of the house, and much more than she would have received under eminent domain seizure.
The debate over eminent domain abuse is about curbing the sweetheart deals that government representatives make with private developers. What I find interesting, and wonderful, is that the opponents of eminent domain abuse in Riviera Beach are not opposed to change, or to selling their homes and reaping the benefits of Florida’s very hot real estate market. They want the fair value, and they want the planning to have some public accountability.