Topic: assemblage

Justice Department, HUD, hear citizen concerns on development, urban renewal

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 21, 2008 |

CPRC member Don Sharpe speaks out against redevelopment at "fact-finding" community meeting

“Sued for a half million dollars for speaking out…”

“This ordinance is detrimental to the community…”

“The City Council ‘rubber stamped’ the mayor…”

“I don’t think they have a plan…”

“Our Leadership doesn’t want to listen to us….”

“CHA is a shadow, not a voice…”

“Preying on minority communities…”

“I’ve never been to a public forum where the public couldn’t speak…”

This is what representatives from the United States Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Institute for Justice  heard when they came to Clarksville Thursday to listen to community concerns about the about the city’s controversial redevelopment plans. Seventy people participated in a fact-finding meeting at the New Providence Community Center on Oak Street sponsored by the NAACP and the Urban Resource Center.

Walter Atkinson, Senior Conciliation Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service (Southeast Region IV), in stating that the meeting was “to hear community concerns,” said his role was in part to try and avert “litigation.”

“I am here to listen and observe,” Atkinson said, noting that it was letters from NAACP Chapter President Jimmie Garland and Terry McMoore of the Urban Resource Center that focused federal attention on this local issue. Atkinson had been “in communication” with Mayor Johnny Piper and with the Downtown District Partnership Board. Piper, DDP members and most sitting City Councilors did not attend this meeting. Jim Doyle, who was not re-elected to his Ward 8 seat, along with newly elected councilors Candy Johnson, David Allen and Jeff Burkhart did attend the meeting and spoke with the Ward 6 constituency. «Read the rest of this article»

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County leaders opt out of downtown development plans

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 4, 2008 |

Mayor Johnny Piper and the Downtown District Partnership will be going it alone when it comes to downtown development.

County Mayor Bowers, center, in anad hoc meeting with concerned minority citizens (CO archive photo)

Montgomery County mayor Carolyn Bowers, in letters sent to Piper and DDP chair Scott Giles, said the county will not participate in the controversial Clarksville Center Redevelopment Plan, which had been dubbed “the blight bill.” The proposed plan which was approved by the City Council earlier this year had been strongly opposed by the Clarksville Property Owners Coalition, a grassroots group that has challenged the legality of the program and process of eminent domain and an assemblage clause. The redevelopment plan would offer tax increment financing for certain property developments. «Read the rest of this article»

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Joy Ford’s ‘eminent domain’ case coming up in Nashville court

August 28, 2008 |

UPDATE: This morning [Thursday, August 28, 2008], the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) removed its motion for judgment on the pleadings from the court’s calendar in Joy Ford’s fight to save her Nashville music business from eminent domain abuse. As a result, the hearing originally scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. before Judge Barbara Haynes will not take place. In its letter, MDHA notified the court that it will re-set the motion at a later date.The original story follows:

On Friday, August 29, at 9 a.m., Joy Ford will appear in Nashville court for the first time, along with her lawyers from the Institute for Justice, to fight to save her small country music recording and publishing business from an illegal and unconstitutional eminent domain action.

The Institute for Justice is also representing the Clarksville Property Rights Coalition in defending a libel action in Montgomery County courts that is rooted in this city’s redevelopment plan and its potential for the use of eminent domain via an “assemblage” clause in that controversial redevelopment ordinance. «Read the rest of this article»

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Clarksville Historic District gets “top spot” on Historic Preservation endangered list

By Christine Anne Piesyk | May 31, 2008 |

Clarksville has made it to the “top spot” on at least one list in Tennessee, rising to the number one spot on the state’s “Ten in Tennessee” most endangered historical districts list.

Franklin Street at the heart of development plans. David Shelton Photo.

The Tennessee Trust for Historic Preservation has put Clarksville/Montgomery County Historic Districts at in the number one spot on its 2008 list, according to an announcement released at a press conference on Friday, May 30 at the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville.

“Properties in the downtown, Dog Hill,and Emerald Hill Historic Districts are threatened by recent Downtown Redevelopment and Urban Renewal Plan, which would designate two square miles of the historic downtown as “blighted” and give the city the power to use eminent domain to condemn and demolish structures for development. The National Trust for Historic Preservation calls the situation “the most significant threat to historic districts” it has encountered.” — Tennessee Trust for Historic Preservation.

«Read the rest of this article»

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