.jpg)
| |||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
By:
Nick Sibilla, Forbes | |||||||||
| Posted:
Apr,14-2016 14:26:31
| |||||||||
|
As one of thetop rankedmechanics in Dallas, Hinga Mbogo has served a wide range of clients, including a Dallas Symphony Orchestra musician, and the Dallas Police Department, by repairing their undercover cars. "When I opened this shop, I thought I had it made. I thought I had the American dream," he said.
But thanks to a little-known zoning tactic known as "amortization," the Dallas City Council is trying to remove Hinga from his own property. Back in 2005, the council re-zoned Hinga's neighborhood for a "planned development district." Any properties that were "nonconforming" with the new zoning designation had a limited amount of time to comply. For Hinga, that would mean closing down his business. "When I found out I had to lose my livelihood, I couldn't believe that I was in America," he added.
Hinga is now working with the Institute for Justice to resist amortization, both for his business and for properties citywide. A Change.orgpetitionsupporting Hinga (and blasting amortization as "state-run gentrification") has earned over 5,500 signatures. As a boy, Hinga grew up on a farm in Nairobi, Kenya. There he learned how to dismantle and repair tractors and other farm equipment, which sparked his interest in becoming a mechanic. In 1974, he and his wife immigrated to the United States, where he worked as an aviation mechanic in South Florida. A decade later, Hinga moved to Dallas and opened up his own auto body shop, Hinga's Automotive Company, on Ross Avenue in 1985. His business has stayed there ever since. Instead of respecting the property rights of minority-owned businesses like Hinga's, the city wants "to redevelop the street--new apartment buildings, shops and restaurants--into an eastern gateway to the downtown Arts District," theDallas Morning Newsexplained. By forcing property owners off their land, amortization brings to mind the controversial power of eminent domain. As outlined in both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, private property may be taken by the government only if the owner is awarded "just" or "adequate compensation," and only if the taking is for a "public use," typically understood to be limited to projects like roads. But in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its notorious Kelow v New London decision, which upheld seizing homes for "economic development." In response, Texas ammended its state constitution, with a staggering 81% of voters approving a ban on seizing private property and transferring it "to a private entity for the primary purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues." Despite strong protections against the abuse of eminent domain, Texas has failed to safeguard homes and businesses from amortization. Back in 1972, the Texas supreme court uphelf amortization, ruling that it "does not constitute a 'taking' in the eminent domain sense," but instead fell "within the scope of municipal police power." With only one justice dissenting, the court held that "property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested right in property uses once commenced or in zoning classifications once made." Meanwhile, any "compensation" comes from owners recouping their investment in their property during the amortization period. In other words, the government doesn't have to pay Hinga a dime to kick him off his property.
Since 2010, when the city's amortization period expired, Hinga has been granted two reprieves (the second cost him$7,500). But this year, the City Plan Commission rejected the recommendation of its own staff and denied his request to stay at his own property longer--even though the City's "vision" for the area has left it largely populated by empty lots. On April 13, the city council will hear his appeal. Hinga is the only pre-existing property owner left in his neighborhood who continues to operate amid redevelopment. As Hinga put it, the city is "cloaking" its actions. "They're putting me out of business." To Sign petition in Support of Hinga Mbogo,Click here >>>>> | |||||||||
|
Source:
| |||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RSS