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Eminent domain may be answer at Five Points

December 22, 2017

Concerning Five Points intersection: I believe DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohen addressed this subject matter several issues ago in the Cape Gazette when she gave a history lesson on this hideous engineering nightmare.

First of all, thank you Secretary Cohen for that history lesson because I always put full blame of this atrocity on the State of Delaware and its continuous alleged procrastination to "fix" the problem. It appears that the State of Delaware several years ago had what was possibly the best solution to the problem before the Five Points residential community was built. That plan was kicked to the curb because of community/investor disapproval and the result is what we have now ... a real mess!

Trying to put together yet another community roundtable to address this intersection is futile. This can will be kicked down the road to no end because the "community/investors" will not permit DelDOT to perform a needed radical surgical solution to the problem. Hate to mention that repulsive term, but "eminent domain" (Federal, state, and local governments may take private property through their power of eminent domain or may regulate it by exercising their Police Power. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the government to provide just compensation to the owner of the private property to be taken) should be seriously taken into consideration.

Per the last article, the state has brought in a consulting firm to look at the "problem." Another recommendation would be to throw it out to the transportation and engineering universities as a subject matter for their doctorate student thesis. At the least, that would be interesting!

Joe Darabasz
Milton

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