Take action and tell Mayor Hall that you oppose his assault on Pleasant Ridge!
Recently, the Institute for Justice won a preliminary injunction in Indiana court for its clients in the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood of Charlestown, In., vindicating their right to keep their beloved homes as the case proceeds.
For years, Pleasant Ridge residents have been locked in a property-rights battle with city officials, who want to kick them out of their neighborhood to make room for Neace Ventures, a private development company. Initially, Mayor Bob Hall intended to condemn residents’ properties through eminent domain. But after losing in the court of public opinion, he stacked City Hall with his cronies and began targeting property owners—first, the few landlords who owned hundreds of homes—with massive fines for minor violations of trivial maintenance codes.
These fines, designed to circumvent Indiana’s eminent-domain protections, accumulated at a rate of at least $50 per day for each violation, leaving Pleasant Ridge landlords with a pernicious choice: pay thousands of dollars in fines per property for having a torn screen or chipped paint, or sell their homes to Neace Ventures for well below market value. We knew the city would come for our clients, the homeowner-occupied properties, next.
Thankfully, the recent preliminary injunction puts an end to this injustice by forcing the city to cease its fining until the case is decided in court.
In addition to their lawsuit, Charlestown residents have teamed up with IJ’s activism team in a grassroots effort to save their homes. Refusing to back down, they regularly organize public demonstrations, cleanup days, block parties and community gatherings, and even hosted a showing of the movie Little Pink House.
As the lawsuit proceeds, Pleasant Ridge neighbors have made it clear that they will not give up. IJ commits to continuing its support for these homeowners until the fight is won.
Tell Mayor Hall to take his hands off Pleasant Ridge!