Eminent domain case strikes at Constitutional rights

Published: June 7, 2010
Tags: blog, farm, Giefer, Hot Topics, Oak Creek, Ryan
Comments: 1

By Sean Ryan

staff writer

The debate over whether Oak Creek should take Earl Giefer’s farm was really about how much authority we the people give our government in the name of the greater good.

At 94, old habits die hard for Oak Creek farm owner

Published: June 4, 2010
Tags: BidBlog, blog, eminent domain, Giefer, Moore

By Jeff Moore Wisconsin folk hero Earl Giefer, 94 years cool, decided he’d like to be able to look himself in the mirror every morning rather than take an easy $1.2 million from the city of Oak Creek for his 24.4 acre property, which has been in his family long enough to have had mail [...]

Zoning code enforcement worries Oak Creek property owner (VIDEO)

Published: June 2, 2010
Tags: eminent domain, Giefer, Jason Fry, John Johnson, Lawrence Haskin, Mordja, Muskego, Oak Creek, Schober, Simple Solutions Grading & Snow Plowing
Comments: 2

By Sean Ryan The team trying to keep Earl Giefer on his Oak Creek farm is worried he will end up in the same situation as a Muskego contractor facing $18,000 in fines for zoning violations. The Oak Creek resolution abandoning the idea of acquiring Giefer’s 24.4-acre farm also declares city officials’ intent to enforce [...]

Oak Creek drops eminent domain plan, Giefer to keep farm (VIDEO)

Published: June 1, 2010
Tags: Adkins, eminent domain, farm, Giefer, Haskin, Oak Creek, Wispark
Comments: 1

By Sean Ryan Oak Creek officials on Tuesday dropped plans to acquire Earl Giefer’s farm to support new development after the plan was criticized as abusing the Wisconsin eminent domain law. The city’s Common Council unanimously voted to drop the plan to declare Giefer’s 24.4-acre farm blighted, which is the first step governments must take [...]

Make the farmer ‘an offer he can’t refuse’

Published: May 27, 2010
Tags: blog, eminent domain, farm, Giefer, Hot Topics, Oak Creek, thompson
Comments: 1

By Chris Thompson

editor

The neighborly thing to do before ripping a farmer’s land out from under him through eminent domain would be to make him an official offer for the property.

Blight ruling hangs over Oak Creek farm

Published: May 6, 2010
Tags: blight, CDA, common council, Doug Seymour, eminent domain, farm, Giefer, Heymann, Howell Avenue, Mordja, Oak Creek, Oak Creek Community Development Authority, Vogel, Wispark
Comments: 9

By Sean Ryan A dispute over what qualifies as blight is at the heart of Oak Creek’s possible use of eminent domain to take a farm and clear the way for development. “Some people may say the land should be condemned because it’s full of garbage,” said Valentine Vogel, who lives across the street from [...]