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OGDEN -- Outgoing Councilman Jesse Garcia called it the most difficult decision he has made in 16 years on the city council.
The council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, voted 5-2 Tuesday to authorize the use of eminent domain to take three residential properties for the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area.
Councilwomen Dorrene Jeske and Amy Wicks opposed the resolution.
Garcia, who voted in favor along with Caitlin Gochnour, Blain Johnson, Doug Stephens and Brandon Stephenson, said he struggled with the decision, but said the river project needs to advance. His vote provided the supermajority required by state statute to authorize use of eminent domain, he said.
"I don't like the idea of government taking property. However, in dealing with and speaking to people who had their houses purchased, in working with the (state) ombudsman, they all mentioned that they were treated right," Garcia said. "This is the hardest decision I've made in 16 years, but because I've always wanted the river project to go forward, I'm going to have to vote aye."
Negotiations with the property owners can continue until mid-December before court papers are filed to exercise the right of eminent domain.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 vote in 2005 that cities can use eminent domain to claim property for economic development.
Ramona Hurtado is the owner of two of the properties, listed as 264 20th St. and 260 20th St.
The city has been talking for 30 years about using the property, she said, but the vote was a disappointment. Her late husband, Alex Hurtado, served on the Ogden City Council in the 1970s.
"I hate to see the government dictating how we handle our lives," she said. "It hurts, but I know things have to move on. In fact, my husband had an idea of the river project many, many years ago. He would have liked to see it all go, too. I'll work with them, I've been trying to work with them. If they'll just be fair, that's all I ask for."
Jeske opposed the resolution.
"I want to see the river project be successful, and I wish we had a developer who is ready to start construction as soon as this mess is cleared up," she said.
"Eminent domain just goes against my grain. I think it is basically wrong to take someone's property and sell it to some business to profit from. It just isn't the American way, in my way of thinking."
Garcia said he has always opposed eminent domain, but because of the importance of the river project, the time and money the city has spent on it and the people who have already sold their land, he says the project needs to go forward.
Wicks voted against eminent domain.
"I'm fundamentally opposed to the use of eminent domain for economic development," she said, "Some people say it's not a heavy-handed opportunity for the government; I think in some ways, it is."
The third property, whose ownership is in dispute, is at 1923 Grant Ave.
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
What about unpaid taxes?
Why the big rush to acquire the two properties facing 20th street on the edge of this area?
The County is owed over $45,000 in taxes for 2009 by Gadi Leshem's Ogden River Project group and his wife's trust. How about making them pay up and, while they are at it, bulldozing the buildings and clearing the lots they own of weeds and trash?
As Ben Dover says, nothing is happening here and meanwhile we could sure use that money in the treasury to pay for snow removal and to help the poor make it through the winter.
What project. Nothing is
What project. Nothing is happening to further the so called River project. Show some progress towards completion of anything related to this boondoggle. All that has happened is that a local neighborhood was destroyed for no apparent reason.