Dallas—Today, the Dallas City Council voted to deny a request by Hinga’s Automotive for a specific use permit. The request came after the city changed the zoning for the mechanic shop and did not offer any compensation for voting to drive it off of its land. Hinga’s Automotive received widespread support, including signatures of more than 82,000 Americans.

In denying the specific use permit, Dallas City Councilman Rickey Callahan, a real estate developer, explained his vote, saying that Dallas needed to use this power and interfere with the rights of people like Hinga Mbogo in order to attract businesses like Starbucks and the Macaroni Grill.

Following the vote, Bill Maurer, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice issued the following statement:

“Today, the city council said loud and clear that it has no respect for property rights. This is Texas. Property rights are supposed to be fundamental rights. Today, while many members of the city council announced their respect for private property and individual rights, they nonetheless were willing to trample individual rights to achieve their homogenized, sterile ‘vision’ for Dallas. At this point, Hinga’s only option for keeping his Ross Avenue business will be to take the city to court.”

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