Letters: Transit plan leaves questions about land use, private property and federal grants
What Is Metro's Transportation Plan? Urban Renewal by Another Name?
What is the real purpose of Metro's county-wide Transportation Plan , with 12 transit centers, 17 park-and-ride stations, and 39 miles of "complete streets"?
Where will this land for these "improvements" be located, and how much land will be needed for this "public purpose"?
A park-and-ride station will require either large tracts of land for grade-level parking lots or huge multi-story parking garages for each location.
Likewise, transfer centers will require enough land, to accommodate not only passenger shelters, but also enough parking spaces for the number of buses required for the projected public transportation needs.
In the 1950s, Nashville used urban renewal programs to acquire downtown property through eminent domain under the guise of slum clearance to qualify for millions of dollars of federal funds to pay for capital improvements.
This program was so "successful" that Nashville used urban renewal as a means of forcing the acquisition and resale of property for "planned" redevelopment up through the 1970s.
Opinion: Nashville voters should listen to various views as they decide on transit plan
Slum clearance was ruled by the Supreme Court to be a public purpose sufficient to satisfy the requirement of the Fifth Amendment that government acquisition of property be for public use and be paid for with "reasonable compensation." Because these federal programs were ultimately misused, they are no longer politically acceptable.
One of the main purposes of the Transportation Plan is to qualify for federal matching funds to pay for capital improvements needed to accommodate the transportation needs of future residential and major commercial redevelopment outside of the "inner-city" through comprehensive transportation planning and "public-private partnerships."
Remember, once you contract with the federal government for matching funds, Metro will be bound to proceed or lose all of that federal money. Watch for it: Urban Renewal under a new name; Metro's Comprehensive Transportation Plan implemented with the power of eminent domain to effect this "public purpose."
Joseph H. Johnston, Nashville 37212
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