State DEP begins eminent domain proceedings against Jesse Hardy
 
 
"In May, Governor Jeb Bush and the Cabinet gave the DEP the authority to file the eminent domain case against Hardy by waiving its normal policy against using eminent domain against homesteaded landowners."
 
(Note: The intent is clear; public opinion, Karen Budd-Falen and God -- not necessarily in that order -- must continue to keep this abomination against a decent, honest human being before the public and in the public's eye. This has everything to do with The Wildlands Project, which is the Trojan Horse of TAKING all natural resources and locking them away from the property owners and property rights of middle class America. It is a major crime and a sham being perpetrated, through going after Jesse and his property, against EVERY PERSON IN AMERICA who loves property rights and ever hopes to own or owns property. Let Florida's governor know what you think about this: jeb.bush@myflorida.com, 850-488-7146, Fax: 850-487-0801, Governor Jeb Bush, The Capitol, 400 South Monroe St., Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Write a Letter to the Editor of this newspaper. Speak up and speak out -- or wonder what happened when GangGreed comes for YOUR property.)
 
August 28, 2004
 
By Eric Staats emstaats@naplesnews.com
 
Naples Daily News
 
Naples, Florida
 
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@naplesnews.com
 

Florida raised the stakes Friday in its long-running dispute with Southern Golden Gate Estates landowner Jesse Hardy.

The state Department of Environmental Protection filed papers in Collier County Circuit Court to start eminent domain proceedings against Hardy, a 68-year-old disabled Navy veteran who lives on 160 remote acres in a wooden house he built himself.

Hardy has defied the state's efforts to buy him out to make way for an environmental restoration project that seeks to fill in canals and dig up roads to return natural water flows across the abandoned subdivision south of Interstate 75.

Ernie Barnett, the DEP's director of ecosystem restoration, said Friday's filing doesn't mean the end of negotiations with Hardy.

"We're beating the bushes for a whole bunch of alternatives we might do to get an amicable solution," he said.

Hardy met with DEP Secretary Colleen Castille at a Naples law office Monday to talk about ways to resolve the matter.

Hardy called the meeting "cordial" and expressed dismay Friday that the DEP would move forward with court papers to force him to sell his land.

"If this is what they wanted to do, let them go ahead and do it," Hardy said.

Barnett said the state will not pursue the eminent domain case unless negotiations with Hardy become futile.

Negotiations will continue for at least another 30 days, he said.

In May, Governor Jeb Bush and the Cabinet gave the DEP the authority to file the eminent domain case against Hardy by waiving its normal policy against using eminent domain against homesteaded landowners.

That authority runs out Tuesday.

"We wanted to ensure that that deadline didn't come and go, but practically speaking, we're still in full negotiations with Mr. Hardy," Barnett said.

Hardy's attorney said she was surprised when she received a telephone call from the DEP notifying her of Friday's court filing.

"I will say it's going to be very hard to discuss settlement when you have to do settlement and defend a lawsuit at the same time," said attorney Karen Budd-Falen, who is based in Wyoming.

Budd-Falen served as a special assistant and staff attorney at the Interior Department during the Ronald Reagan administration and has worked as an attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative public interest group in Denver.

Hardy's fight with the DEP has riled property rights advocates and frustrated environmental groups.

He lives in Southern Golden Gate Estates on a road he named after his mother, Naomi.

He bought the 160 acres in 1976 for $60,000.

Hardy lives there with a family friend, Tara Hilton, and her son, Tommy, 8, whom he has reared as his own son.

He runs an earth-mining business there and plans to start a fish farm.

Since 2002, the DEP has made several offers to buy Hardy out, including a $4.4 million offer [that] Hardy rejected earlier this year.

Hardy also has turned down offers to swap his land for acreage in other parts of rural Collier County.

He insists that he is not in the way of the state's restoration plans and has proposed building a berm around his land to allow him to stay put.

Neither Barnett nor Budd-Falen would provide details of current negotiations to end the standoff between Hardy and the DEP.

Copyright 2004, Naples Daily News
 
 
Additional recommended action:
 
Let Florida's governor know what you think about this: jeb.bush@myflorida.com, 850-488-7146, Fax: 850-487-0801, Governor Jeb Bush, The Capitol, 400 South Monroe St., Tallahassee, Florida 32399