Friends, Put simply, and in a way that will make most good real estate attorneys cringe at my oversimplification ( sorry folks, my forte is securities law) - all land in the United States of America ultimatelybelongs to the state, in the same way that all land in England belongs to the King. You may have a freehold in that land, you can have a life estate in that land, it may have been in your family since Queen Anne, but if the state wants it, the state can have it.
I sit on a Land Use Committee of my local community board in Manhattan and the game I play there is zoning. The only way that community gardens have any land upon which to garden is if it is leased from other entities, governmental of private, or if it is on land purchased for the purpose by a private land trust. Ultimately, however, if the King, or government needs your land for a "compelling" reason, it has that right by "eminent domain". In the end, the ownership and use of land is political, just like community gardening, just like any persuit where human beings are involved. Some sites to make your head feel like it's exploding: Here's the Cornell University Page on Real Property: http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/real_property.html WestLaw Eminent Domain Site: http://www.wld.com/conbus/weal/wemindom.htm Cheers, Adam Honigman -----Original Message----- From: Jim Call [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 4:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; a.h.steely Subject: Re: [cg] If you own the garden Helen, We appreciate your input. Sad but true revelations in the real world of CGs. I've told that only 5% of all CG have site permanency. Now I understand why. Thank You, Jim ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: "a.h.steely" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 15:49:19 -0500 >To the party that thought that the government can not take the property if >you have a deed... I have seen the government take - for a dam project on >the upper Delaware River - huge acreage and then arrest squatters who lived >on the property for years as well as some of the people who refused to sell >even after eminent domain went through the courts. The dam on the Delaware >was finally found to be not viable or some such nonsense. That was over 30 >years ago when I lived in a town named Lambertville, N.J. which is across >the bridge from New Hope, Pa. Those farmlands and homes were owned in their >entirety by the deed holders, unlike the lands of western Penna. and W. Vir. >down through Kentucky which have underground rights owned by coal companies. > >Most city property sits on land that the city can use for sewers, power >conduits, etc. The bundle of property rights means nothing if the >government decides that your land is wanted for something the elected >officials vote is for the common good. In the state capitol of Harrisburg, >Pa. I have watched the common good defined as whatever some developer >convinced an elected official was good for the economic well-being of the >bribed official. > >We just had a representative named John Barley retire because he eminent >domained his neighbors for property to be given to family members building a >dump. But for years (since the 1960's) he had been the bag man for payments >to the state legislators... a fellow Mason of Mr. Barley told me that. > >No matter how much of the bundle of property rights your community garden >organization owns, it is not safe. > >Sincerely sorry to correct your wishful belief, >Helen Steely >Harrisburg, Pa. >Paralegal and former law student in a real live law school. > > > >______________________________________________________ >The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > >To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden > ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
