Property owner criticizes eminent domain gambit
“he attorney for a British company that owns property here has accused Mayor Bill Finch’s administration of abusing the city’s eminent domain power to help controversial developer Sal DiNardo, who owes the city millions in back taxes.
Mark Sussman, attorney for the Stewart Gardner Corp., owned by Invensys Inc., said his client only learned about the city and Port Authority’s plan to take its four properties on South Avenue and Atlantic Street when contacted by a Hearst Connecticut Newspapers reporter in May. Since then, the company has learned about the progress of those plans only from newspaper reports, despite repeated efforts to set up a meeting with city officials, he said.
“There has not been any effort on behalf of the city or the Port Authority to negotiate in good faith as required by statute,” Sussman said, issuing his statements during the City Council’s Tuesday public hearing on the city’s eminent domain plans. “We’ve learned a lot more from the press than from the city.””
Ocasio, Kelia Torres. CT Post.com 4 September 2013.