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Gores take marina fight door to door
Published June 25, 2005
Western Seafood Co. officials are circulating a petition for a public vote on eminent domain after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a Connecticut case that a local government can use it to seize land for a private development that promotes economic development.
Western Seafood Co. has been battling the city of Freeport and the Freeport Economic Development Corp. over 330 feet of the company’s property along the Brazos River. The Supreme Court ruling empowers the city to purchase the land at fair market value and sell it to private developer Walker Royall, even if Western Seafood doesn’t want to sell. Royall, of Dallas, hopes to build the $8 million marina finances in part through a $6 million loan from the city.
Western Seafood Co. representatives are going door to door collecting signatures for a petition. According to a provision in the Texas Develop-ment Corporation Act, the company needs to collect signatures from 10 percent of Freeport’s registered voters to bring its fight with the city and the economic development group to a vote.
“There are many volunteers circulating,” said Wright Gore III, son of the company’s president. “Many people feel strongly about eminent domain and want a direct role.”
The earliest possible date residents of Freeport could vote on the petition, once the signatures are certified by the city secretary, would be Sept. 10.
City officials believe most residents want the marina in the hopes it will spur economic development.
Three years ago, the city began making plans to build the marina to help boost the city’s economy. In 2003, Gore filed a lawsuit against the city and the economic development group.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent ruled in favor of the city in August, and the case has been stalled in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court awaiting the outcome of the Connecticut case.
The city of Freeport and Royall still hope to settle the situation out of court, Freeport City Manager Ron Bottoms said.
“Hopefully now there’s a little more motivation for them to sit down with us,” Bottoms said.
Gore and his family’s business have not shown any signs they are ready to take a seat. Instead, the company has volunteers walking around Freeport asking for signatures for their petition.
One Western Seafood Co. volunteer was stopped by a patrol officer Thursday while she was going door to door requesting signatures. The officer questioned the volunteer because a city ordinance does not allow people to sell door to door unless they receive a peddler’s license from the city, Police Chief Henrietta Gonzales said.
The officer told his supervisor he did not understand what the volunteer was doing and asked her to go to City Hall. The officer was told people are allowed to go door to door to collect signatures for a petition, Gonzales said.
Gore heard a different story from volunteers. He was told the volunteer was not allowed to ask for signatures.
“Not only do we not have the property right we thought we had, our rights of free speech are hindered,” Gore said.
The Supreme Court decision merely upheld a law already on the books, said John Hightower, a Houston attorney who represents Freeport and its economic development group. Only retroactive legislation or a vote of the people could stop the marina, he said.
“It’s to the city’s benefit that the law entitles them to do what they want to do,” Hightower said.
The 330 feet of Western Seafood property was appraised at $60,770, City Manager Ron Bottoms said. The city offered the company more than $200,000 for the land. Western Seafood then wanted $1.63 million, city officials said.
Gore believes the piers of the potential marina would make navigation impossible for the shrimp boats to unload. He believes the only way his family business can stay afloat is if the company keeps the 330 feet.
“We have no intentions of destroying their business. They’ll still have a place to unload,” Bottoms said. “The shrimp boats create an ambiance that we want for the marina.”
Gore is not alone in his reaction to the Supreme Court decision.
State Rep. Frank Corte Jr., R-San Antonio, proposed a state constitutional amendment that would limit a government’s power of eminent domain.
In an attempt to have the amendment on the ballot in November, he requested that Gov. Rick Perry add the condemnation issue to the current special legislative session. The session is limited to school finance issues and property tax deductions, so Perry would need to broaden the issues for the amendment to be discussed.
“The right to own and use property is inherent to a free society,” Corte said. “When a government decides they know how to use private property better than the individual, private property rights cease to exist.”
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