Eminent Domain can be defined as the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation. What this means is that whenever the government feels like it, they can kick you out of your house and onto the streets. Some people are theorizing that Governor Cuomo will enact Eminent Domain rights on Fire Island.
He would do this by forcing oceanfront residents to sell their houses and get out, just so a little sand dune could be built. There have been artificial dunes built in the past, yet they are not there today. They have all been washed away over time. What makes this proposed plan any different than the plan from ten years ago? Hundreds of people will have to sell their homes. Hundreds of people will have to leave the island on which they grew up.
Are these prospective dunes truly worth our residences? There is no guarantee that the mounds of sand will stand the test of time. Most artificial dunes are gone within the year. Only Mother Nature can choose when the sand comes and when the sand goes. This isn't the first time that the American Government has tried to take our houses.
Following Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people wanted to just seize huge swaths of land, basically condemning the city. In what world is tearing down a city more beneficial than trying to rebuild it? I'm sure Albany has their reasons, but in the case of Fire Island, Eminent Domain is not the best solution. The vast majority of the oceanfront homes went undamaged following Hurricane Sandy.
My house, like many others, is one of the structurally sound, oceanfront houses threatened by Eminent Domain. The benefits within rebuilding our houses strongly outweigh the need for a temporary dune. Fire Island, as a community, is urging our representatives to stop talking about Eminent Domain. In theory, it is a good plan, but when enacted, we will all find that it will not succeed. Do the right thing, protect our homes, not our sand.
