Will they stop at nothing? Seizure of property without due process

No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

---Fifth amendment to the Constitution of the United States

…No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

---Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States

In communities across America, families are discovering that political bullies are seizing private land through various stealth maneuvers, including eminent domain, for corporate profit, for political buddies, to keep out less desirable neighbors, and/or "just because." In many communities, growing families who have worked hard with careful investment and sweat equity to improve their homes find out that, without any notice, rules have been changed that either prevent them from expanding their homes to fit their growing families, prevent older families from recouping their investments when selling to fund their retirement or health care needs, or seize their home outright through eminent domain.

Do you think this is only about stopping teardowns? Think again. One family in Winnetka that had lived in a cozy (tiny in real estate terminology) old home on a quiet family street (of 50 foot wide lots) for two generations found their request for rebuilding an old decrepit detached garage on the same rear corner spot it had stood on for the life of the home was denied by village officials who stated that the garage should be moved away from the side property line into the children's narrow play space of their back yard. This family sadly gave up their multi-generation family treasure and moved to a larger, newer home with a usable garage. Their neighbors were crushed to lose this family. Other families of older homes were shocked to discover their right to expand their old homes (with updated kitchens, a fourth bedroom, or a second bathroom) had been secretly taken away with zoning changes purportedly designed to "prevent teardowns." A young family moved into a cozy home in a family neighborhood in Winnetka with the explicit expectation that the plain, century old home could be expanded as their family grew. They found out too late that they could not add on enough to their home to make it the permanent home of their family, so they sold it within two years and moved across town to a reasonably-sized new home on the site of a teardown. Some of these old homes have crumbling brick foundations without footings, basements with ceiling clearances below 7 feet, buckling structural elements, bedrooms smaller than 9X9, and powder rooms so tiny that people have to sit sideways on the commode. Some have inefficient radiator boilers built more than a century ago that are covered with asbestos and were converted from coal (and are currently burning oil delivered to a tank in the basement). Do these old homes have character? You bet! They are quite the characters!

One former village official privately stated that he believed these selectively applied rules amounted to a "I have mine, you can't have yours" philosophy. Those who wish to suppress building homes to accommodate the needs of families in the 21st century use the bullying, pejorative term of "McMansions" for homes with similar styles and square footage as older homes that belong to the privileged few. So much for a sense of community...

According to the Chicago Tribune, Kenilworth just approved an ordinance to have the entire community gain historical landmark status

Over the objection of some residents, Kenilworth's Village Board voted 4-1 Tuesday night to ask that the entire town be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

More than 200 residents signed a petition last week demanding a November referendum be held on the proposal, with many fearing the honorary designation could lead to unprecedented restrictions on what they can do to their homes.

"The problem is people don't recognize where you are on a slippery slope until it's too late," said resident Kelli Kobor, who led the petition drive. More

The preservation zealots and bullies, who seem to be busy minding everyone else's business, make expansive improvements to their own homes and take property tax freezes (see http://whoa60093.com, an evolving site run by volunteers trying to stop Winnetka's bullying tactics), yet wish to prevent anyone else from making similar improvements, are now using "historical preservation" to take away individual property rights of those who lack the political clout of those chosen few. The typical tactics seem to include complete distortion of caucus "statistics" which they claim represent voter sentiment, stealth changes to zoning codes and other community documents, flagrant and subtle violations of open meeting act laws, hiding of conflicts of interest of voting officials, and complete ignoring of the legal rights and voiced complaints of the very community of people they were elected to represent. How can they do it? In addition to the above strategies, their other tactic is to silence those who wish to speak up by threats or actual "swiftboating" those who dare to challenge the bullying. Additionally, no matter how many legal challenges the unfortunate community members manage to make, the legal pockets of the bullies are always deeper, because the taxpayers are forced to pick up the tab.

Can you afford to speak up? You can not afford to not speak up.

Martin Niemoeller stated

In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

If you care about your community and neighborhood but you don't speak up now, you may not have any caring neighbors remaining when they come after your street and your home.