Land grab should be condemned
“If you really don’t mean to proceed with the case just yet, don’t file it,” responds Smith family attorney Bruce Smith (no relation), who has not yet seen the letter. “If you don’t need immediate possession and use of the land, and they say they don’t, why are you asking this court for a stay? Why not wait until the Supreme Court case and then file?”
Good question.
But even if the court rules in favor of Telluride, this sort of condemnation is abusive. Whenever municipalities seek more open space, more parks or more tax revenue from a new Wal-Mart or Target, they seem to turn to eminent domain.
Parker is no exception.
“They’re trying to bully me, it’s simple,” Gary Smith says. “We were negotiating on the price and we could not come together. They didn’t like what we had to say. So now, if we don’t accept their price, they just condemn the land anyway? Instead of talking, they come out and use the big hammer.”
Harsanyl, David. The Denver Post 21 November 2007.