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A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

404media.co

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Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#131

Post by cogman10 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #109
msandford wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please tell me how I can just strip deed restrictions simply because I don't like them and/or they're inconvenient for me. Deed restrictions are the mechanism that basically all HOAs are built upon so if you can just skirt around them because $reasons there are millions of people who would like to know.

> Please tell me how I can just strip deed restrictions simply because I don't like them and/or they're inconvenient for me. Easy - be a municipality. There's a reason the phrase "can't fight city hall" exists, and is for the most part universally true.

Yeah, city law can easily override deed laws. But further, eminent domain allows the city to strip away deed restrictions through a "one weird trick". The city can eminent domain the land from themselves removing the restriction and then sell it privately.

The same way the city can eminent domain your home and put a road through it. The HOA can't stop the city from putting in a new road.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#132

Post by JuniperMesos »

kunai wrote: post #39
estebank wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YIMBYism is about relaxed zoning so that commerce and diverse types of housing aren't physically segregated, but even in the most "free" places industry is segregated because the needs of industry are incompatible with human habitation. No one wants to live next to a refinery, nor should they be put in a position where that's their only option. (I get that you're being ironic.)

Yeah no worries, apart from the facetiousness I'm a pretty YIMBY person un-ironically. But it is infuriating that people adopt YIMBY rhetoric to try and defend data centers and other harmful industrial uses in areas with high land value. It's not only completely counter to the ideals of YIMBYism but also insulting as YIMBY has always been about lowering housing and commercial use costs through heavily relaxed zoning,…

YIMBYism is about telling people who are mad about some structure being built near where they live, and who are engaging in poltical activism to try to stop that construction, that their anger about the structure shouldn't let them stop it from existing.

In this respect there is very little difference between a NIMBY getting mad about a data center and getting mad about a new housing development that will make the area more crowded and use more water.

The only difference is that you yourself are mad about data centers. If you are a YIMBY generally-speaking try to see how the anger you feel about data centers is like the anger your opponents have about new housing, and let that empathy make you a more effective YIMBY.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#133

Post by DANmode »

wagwang wrote: post #102
b3ing wrote: post #89

Reminds me a teacher lived thriftily in life and donated 2 or 3 million to a school in his will when he died. The school used it to buy a state of the art high school football scoreboard.

Donating money is just not it. It's so easy to spend money you didn't work hard to make yourself. If you wanna do good, figure out how to deploy the resources to your cause.

Step 1: Have a stated cause or known interest

(Most people struggle to reach this step)

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#134

Post by DANmode »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #6

Whenever possible, conservation land should go into a conservation trust, not to the city, with a conservation easement. Defense in depth. Local government will do whatever is best at the time with whomever is in charge, conservation trusts will optimize to conserve and protect the land. No shame against this family, they and their gift were taken advantage of by their city and its representatives. You don't know wha…

> Local government will do whatever is best at the time

Must have spent most of your years in better States than I!

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#135

Post by reactordev »

arjie wrote: post #43
helterskelter wrote: post #3

Wow they had the condition that the land be used as a park baked into the deed when they sold it to the city for $10, the city sold it, and when the family went to court their suit was dismissed. Now their home is worthless because nobody wants to live next to a data center. When are we going to hold local government officials accountable for bullshit like this? Send them to prison.

It was unclear from this summary but there are a few parties here: the original farmer A, the neighbouring family B, the city C, and the datacenter builder D. A sold to C with the deed restriction C sold to D without the restriction B tried to sue to stop D from building the datacenter, but B has no standing. Okay, that makes sense. It seems to me that A or C has standing, but not B. And depending on the way it's wri…

In which case C should be held culpable for the violation of the terms from A. As the condition of the sale. B should not sue D, but C. Try to get an A witness.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#136

Post by akramachamarei »

akramachamarei wrote: post #124
waynecochran wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the legal precedent for this statement? I am not disagreeing, I just would like to know what the law is.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_(law) the requirements for standing were developed in the Constitution and elaborated in some later cases. To quote from the article, the apt criteria seem to me (2 of the 3): 1. Injury-in-fact: The plaintiff must have suffered or imminently will suffer injury—an invasion of a legally protected interest that is (a) concrete and particularized, and (b) actual or immi…

Update: this is the most up-to-date info I could find: Case 15-25-00202-CV

https://search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=15-25-00202-CV&coa=...

Pamela Griffin, Ralph Griffin, Michelle Griffin, Corey Griffin, Individually and as Trustee of The Griffin Revocable Living Trust, and Polly Randle

v.

NCP Travis TPP Project, LLC

But the records only go up to February 20th.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#137

Post by Legend2440 »

limagnolia wrote: post #36
cldellow wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.taylorpress.net/article/10705,judge-rules-in-fav... has a bit more info. I don't know how to pull the actual court documents without paying for them, but the article indicates the case was dismissed for lack of standing. The plaintiffs tried to argue that as neighbours, they had an interest in the land usage being enforced. The court disagreed. I presume the original family could bring a case? It doesn't…

Possibly... there is a lot of unknown details here. The article posted appears to be rage bait rather than a well researched article.

That's 404media for you. They are anti-tech-industry activists who exist to get people riled up against tech companies.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#138

Post by HWR_14 »

arjie wrote: post #43
helterskelter wrote: post #3

Wow they had the condition that the land be used as a park baked into the deed when they sold it to the city for $10, the city sold it, and when the family went to court their suit was dismissed. Now their home is worthless because nobody wants to live next to a data center. When are we going to hold local government officials accountable for bullshit like this? Send them to prison.

It was unclear from this summary but there are a few parties here: the original farmer A, the neighbouring family B, the city C, and the datacenter builder D. A sold to C with the deed restriction C sold to D without the restriction B tried to sue to stop D from building the datacenter, but B has no standing. Okay, that makes sense. It seems to me that A or C has standing, but not B. And depending on the way it's wri…

B doesn't have standing because they are indirectly harmed? So if I sell a home in an HOA without the HOA covenant on the deed, can the HOA sue? It seems they are also only indirectly harmed.

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#139

Post by dylan604 »

freak42 wrote: post #98
dylan604 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's farm land. Sounds pretty wild to me. Also, we have wild land set up as parks as in national/state parks. A park doesn't have to mean slides/swings and a bunch of ankle biters running around.

Farm land isn't wild.

Once you stop farming it, it'll be wild right quick. Not really sure why you're quibbling this way. Ahh, maybe it's because your just a bot

Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center

#140

Post by HWR_14 »

sleepybrett wrote: post #114
IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(a) has to sue and they will prevail. (b) does not have standing.

.. and if A is dead?

Property rights would inherit. So one of their relatives or heirs. If they had no one to inherit the restriction it would go to the state - but the state would have gotten the land unrestricted in that case anyway.
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