University of North Texas green, mean spirit

[Harry]

As the University of North Texas seeks to take property that for decades has been home to a Sack & Save grocery store, the chorus of voices questioning government’s ability to confiscate private property in order to grow government is mounting.

A recent column discussed UNT co-opting a “green, mean spirit” after the Board of Regents green lighted acquiring property located on I-35E via eminent domain should the property owner decline a “fair market price” offer as determined by the university.

Eminent domain is government’s ability to seize private property for public use and without the property owner’s consent. Though the 2005 Kelo v. New London ruling seemed for a while to deter its use, that trend is now reversing.

While recognizing I-35E expansion could consume a portion of the store’s parking lot, the university’s announcement came as a surprise to Sack & Save owner/operator Gary Shelton and his employees.

“A lot of students walk here to buy groceries,” Shelton said of the store which for about 30 years has provided students—those with and without transportation—a competitively-priced food outlet located within safe, sensible proximity to numerous dorms and other UNT facilities.

In citing a “pressing need for facilities during the highway reconstruction process and into the long term right at the mouth of our campus and the face of our campus,” UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson indicated the property could become home to a new community services center and long-term, perhaps student housing.

Read more: http://watchdogwire.com/texas/2014/10/10/unt-green-mean-spirit/