Itt-Ott, 1982 (15. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1982 / 1. szám
AMEMUKA Poletown Demolition Approved By Court New GM Plant Jobs Outweigh Preserving Section, Panel Rules LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The city of Detroit can complete the destruction of its aging Poletown neighborhood to pave the way for a new General Motors Corp. assembly plant, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday. In a 5-2 decision issued with rare speed, the high court said that the 6,000 jobs the plant means to the economically ailing city outweigh the value of preserving the Poletown community. Poletown, a racially mixed neighborhood dominated by Polish immigrants for years and “anchored” by six classically styled Roman Catholic churches, straddles the border of Detroit and Hamtramck. The 6500 million GM plant will displace 3,400 residents to clear 456 acres. It will replace two GM factories in another part of Detroit. The city has already started site clearance to accommodate the plant, including the destruction of a defunct Chrysler Corp. plant. Work had been halted by the Supreme Court for three weeks while the case was pending. The suit filed by the Poletown neighborhood council challenged the city’s right to acquire private property essentially for the benefit of a private interest, noting the land package was being carefully tailored to GM’s specifications. Significance Demonstrated The Supreme Court majority said in a seven-page opinion, “This project is warranted on the basis that its significance for the people^ of Detroit and the" state has been demonstrated. “The power of eminent domain (condemning land) is to be used in this instance to accomplish the essential public purposes of’: alleviating unemployment and revitalising the economic base of the community. “The benefit to a private interest (GM) is merely incidental.” “If the public benefit was not so clear and significant we would hesitate to sanction approval of such a project,” the court said. Justice James Fitzgerald wrote a stinging dissent, saying the ruling threatens private property everywhere and is an abuse of the power of government to condemn land needed for projects in the public interest. Called Bad Precedent Justice Fitzgerald warned that the decision was a bad precedent for Michigan. “The decision that prospect of increased employment, tax revenue, and general economic stimulation makes a taking of private property for transfer to another private party sufficiently ‘public’ to authorize the use of eminent domain means that there is virtually no limit to the use of condemnation to aid private business,” he said. Detroit Mayor Coleman Young called the suit filed by the Poletown Neighborhood Council to block the proposed plant “a very important test” of a new strategy to revitalize aging industrial cities everywhere. Poktown Council Says Federal Court Suits Planned Members of the the Poletown council shook off the setback, saying federal court suits were still planned in an effort to force GM to redesign the plant to preserve more of the neighborhood, or to seek damages for violation of their human rights. Ronald Reosti, Poletown attorney, said the “public welfare has been subordinated to the dictates of major corporations. “We are confident that the people of Poletown will continue to press their case and seek every possible means of reversing this dangerous trend,” he said. GM Expects Construction To Get Under Way By May 1 In a statement, GM President Roger Smith said the company expects to get plant construction under way by May 1 — when the city must begin turning over title to the land, under its agreement with the auto maker. “We want to get the plant built and people working in it just as quickly as possible,” Mr. Smith said. 26 THE BLADE: TOLEDO, OHIO, SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1981-
