Why do the City Council, mayor and the city administrator of Providence, Utah, insist on coveting the 0.33 of an acre in my front yard as land they want to build a road on? The developer still has 3.36 acres of open field left to build on, and yet that doesn’t seem to be enough space for Providence city officials to fit their road on.
First, they claimed my land was a public right of way, but the court ruled a year ago it wasn’t; so now in an effort to “give the developer more land to sell” in his lots, they want to take my land using eminent domain. The law says eminent domain must be “necessary,” so they plan to allow the developer to build a “narrow” road next to my property, sell his lots, then, with no developer’s land left, take my land to widen the dangerous narrow road the developer was required to build.
This is so wrong. You may think as you read this that “it is just the way the world is today,” and go back to what you were doing. Without a big public outcry for justice, nothing will make them change their minds. They think you will believe anything they say next election when this issue is long forgotten.
So to the good people in Providence, Utah, I leave this reminder. It is said that in the last days “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud," but that doesn’t mean you have to vote for them or employ them.
Steve Simmons
Providence, Cache County