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Anyone following the Pigeon Forge Eminent Domain Issue?
Posted on 8/21/24 at 4:56 pm
Posted on 8/21/24 at 4:56 pm
I'm posting this video because it sounds like this is going to grow and show local govt corruption. Here's the latest video: Youtube
Short Version: Family from Ohio bought a house in Pigeon Forge. Turns out a RV park or something is going in nearby, so their house is being taken for a road.
The twist is the mayor is involved in the RV park and the road could have gone around across property he owned, but he steered it away.
In the last video the owner did, she had the mayor's aunt at the counsel meeting testifying to what he had done, and now there appears to be more coming from his family.
This might get good. This video is short, but in others she explains how it's been going down and what she has uncovered.
Short Version: Family from Ohio bought a house in Pigeon Forge. Turns out a RV park or something is going in nearby, so their house is being taken for a road.
The twist is the mayor is involved in the RV park and the road could have gone around across property he owned, but he steered it away.
In the last video the owner did, she had the mayor's aunt at the counsel meeting testifying to what he had done, and now there appears to be more coming from his family.
This might get good. This video is short, but in others she explains how it's been going down and what she has uncovered.
This post was edited on 8/21/24 at 4:57 pm
18
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:05 pm to kywildcatfanone
I've seen how this movie ends.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:07 pm to kywildcatfanone
PF is nothing but tourist dollars I’d bet so they want that RV park. ED should be outlawed. It’s not right.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:09 pm to Dixie2023
quote:
ED should be outlawed. It’s not right.
I agree. And it might not get a bad rap if local yokal politicians knew how to manage anything.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:10 pm to kywildcatfanone
This some redneck, white trash BS…but with a caveat..the lady griping about it all seems to be traveling out West in an RV while posting cliffhangers every video.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:16 pm to Dixie2023
quote:
ED should be outlawed.
It has its place in what should be absolute last resort circumstances (think of a situation where some group like Greenpeace buying up a strip of land that is the only way to get crude oil to a refinery), but this scenario is not one of those cases.
This post was edited on 8/21/24 at 5:18 pm
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:25 pm to kywildcatfanone
I hate Eminent Domain, especially in the hands of local yokels, but the city has looked at options to relieve congestion on the main Parkway for years, and finalized this plan before the couple bought the property.
quote:
It is also important to note that the plans for the Westside Connector, which included running the road through the Races’ property, were presented and approved at a City Commission meeting in November 2021. The Races bought the home several months later, in August 2022.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:26 pm to kywildcatfanone
RV park is not what eminent domain envisioned. It is hardly an urgent public need.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:30 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
and finalized this plan before the couple bought the property.
So was the strip condemned before the couple bought the property? That does change the fact of this specific case, if so.
That said...I still don't believe congestion because of an RV park is the rightful use of eminent domain.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:34 pm to kywildcatfanone
Type of stuff has been going on everywhere forever.
Look at Hunter Biden. Look at Huey P long and Dirty Deeds / State Lease 370
Look at Hunter Biden. Look at Huey P long and Dirty Deeds / State Lease 370
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:56 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
The twist is the mayor is involved in the RV park and the road could have gone around across property he owned, but he steered it away.
The former Mayor of Broussard, Louisiana had a curve put in to the design of the La Neuvelle Road extension (Albertson’s Parkway) to put the roadway right through the Ducrest home at Morgan St. to get her back for some childhood offense. He told the lady during a public meeting that he intended to run that road right through her house.
The judge initially ruled that since it was a public purpose, the town could expropriate to run the road through her house, even though the town’s own engineers all testified that the curve to run through her house, and the curve on the other side to get it back on line, made the road significantly more dangerous. After a couple years of litigation, the new roadway was straightened, but they still wiped out a strip about 40 feet wide into her property. In the final settlement the town had to build a sound barrier along her property, and it’s still there.
Expropriation is a necessary power of government, but it can be abused very easily.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:57 pm to kywildcatfanone
A decent percentage of highways on this map wouldn’t exist without Eminent Domain-
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Fun fact- in many rural & suburban locals in the ‘50s & ‘60s, prominent local folks “assisted” their State Highway Departments on routing & the placement of exits for the new Interstate Highway System.
And the oft-repeated statement about there was a protocol that at least every third mile of interstate had to be straight to potentially allow it to be used as a runway is BS.
Fun fact- in many rural & suburban locals in the ‘50s & ‘60s, prominent local folks “assisted” their State Highway Departments on routing & the placement of exits for the new Interstate Highway System.
And the oft-repeated statement about there was a protocol that at least every third mile of interstate had to be straight to potentially allow it to be used as a runway is BS.
This post was edited on 8/21/24 at 6:36 pm
Posted on 8/21/24 at 6:11 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
and finalized this plan before the couple bought the property.
Shouldn't this have been disclosed to them prior to purchase?
Posted on 8/21/24 at 6:33 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
So was the strip condemned before the couple bought the property? That does change the fact of this specific case, if so.
Found an article with more details.
From what I can gather, the route had already been finalized but the property had not yet been condemned when they bought the property.
Other notes:
- The family bought the property in August 2022 for $306,000.
- The city offered them $490,000 in October 2023.
- The family countered with $3 million.
- City countered with $539,000.
- The family countered with $1.5 million.
- At that point the city walked away from the negotiation and filed for condemnation. It says the city deposited $490k with the clerk as part of that process.
- The city has now taken ownership and it sounds like the house has been demolished.
- City is saying the family bought the house as a commercial property and that it’s zoned commercial. Apparently one of the contentious matters is the valuation as a commercial property. The city says they had it appraised as a commercial property at $490k and that the family has not submitted any other appraisal. But there’s a note in the article about how commercial properties appraise higher than residential properties so maybe that’s why the family is asking for more.
My take is this.. the route was planned when they bought the house. They paid $306k and were offered $539k just 14 months later. It wasn’t their primary residence. Regardless of what shenanigans went into planning the route, it’s hard for me to feel too bad at someone who was offered a 76% return on their investment after 14 months.
That said, if there was shady shite that went into the route planning then hopefully they expose it. Even if I don’t really feel bad for them.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 6:57 pm to lostinbr
Minus what ever upgrades they made and legal fees. That could easily be half of the return.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 7:01 pm to kywildcatfanone
That stinks, my cousin owns a house near the old mill area. It’s an old neighborhood so I hope that doesn’t happen to them but who knows, that’s a prime area near the island etc , we go about 4 times a year with my parents
Posted on 8/21/24 at 7:01 pm to ragincajun03
ED is crap, but is especially crap when the land is being used or turned over to a PRIVATE business or entity. I can almost (but not quite) understand using ED for a new firehouse or police station, but no freakin way should it ever be used for a private business, including a refinery or a RV park.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 7:12 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
Minus what ever upgrades they made and legal fees. That could easily be half of the return.
Fair point.
All I’m saying is that offering someone $539k for a rent house that they just bought after the route was already finalized for $306k seems pretty reasonable, at least on a surface level.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 7:14 pm to nealnan8
I haven't seen maps of the Pigeon Forge problem, but this might have some part of the siting of the new road.
Remember the horrific fires there. There were homes on only one way out roads, There were roads that were both steep and curving and some that fire fighting equipment couldn't navigate.
Access to a new RV park HAS to have access for emergency vehicles. Fastest access is better.
Remember the horrific fires there. There were homes on only one way out roads, There were roads that were both steep and curving and some that fire fighting equipment couldn't navigate.
Access to a new RV park HAS to have access for emergency vehicles. Fastest access is better.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 7:18 pm to lostinbr
quote:
My take is this.. the route was planned when they bought the house. They paid $306k and were offered $539k just 14 months later. It wasn’t their primary residence. Regardless of what shenanigans went into planning the route, it’s hard for me to feel too bad at someone who was offered a 76% return on their investment after 14 months.
Hmmm....I seem to remember a very similar story to this. I believe it has been mentioned in this very thread.
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