Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Search / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

Kay McClanahan at Freedom 21 Conference

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

 Last week I promised to tell you more about the speakers at the Freedom 21 Conference in Nashville. One very compelling speaker was Kay McClanahan, from Columbia, South Carolina.  Kay had worked for many years as a forensic scientist for the state of South Carolina, being the first woman in that investigative group, and she and her husband had looked forward to retiring to their horse farm in Richmond county, south of Columbia.  Instead of being able to relax and enjoy their horse farm, Kay said, they are spending every waking hour just trying to save the farm.

Kay spoke very softly, with a delightful South Carolina accent, and with great firmness and conviction.  She described how her land has become part of the “Congaree Preserve”, complete with large lot zoning and conservation overlay zoning, all of which was done in secret.  The plan calls for large tracts of undeveloped land with seven small villages for an area of 330 square miles.  There will be areas for wealthy people, villages that are like mill towns, where people will be able to work, and non-employment based villages, which will be like reservations for the poor and displaced.  The result will be gentrification and segregation. 

The largest part of the land is owned by blacks.  It is beautiful farmland, is a large source of wealth for many of the families and has been in these families for many years.  The land use plan largely prevents development, making the land worthless and thus robbing these families of their greatest asset.  Also, since the plan prohibits them from dividing the land among their heirs, it will result in their having to sell their land to settle their estates.  After the land is sold by the so-called “willing sellers”, the new, politically powerful owners, will be able to remove the land use restrictions, greatly increase the value of the land, and sell it at a great profit.  So, these land use restrictions are simply a form of legalized theft.

Kay has founded a property rights organization and has sued the county.  They are fighting the laws, are holding up the writing of zoning ordinances, and are struggling to protect what is theirs.  Kay said that this is nothing short of a war.  When there are hearings about the land use plan, the people who sign up to speak are physically pulled out of the meetings and roughed up by the authorities.  From the text of Kay’s speech:

“In February, a Deputy manhandled the 72 year old President of the Lower Richland NAACP, because she was quietly voicing her concerns, having been called upon to speak.

In March, three Deputies attacked my 72 year old husband, Bill, after he, too, was called on to speak. He was not allowed to speak. Bill, who is partially blind and had just completed radiation therapy for cancer, was dragged from his seat by deputies, and when I begged them to let him go, they grabbed me too, twisting my arm behind me, tearing my elbow, shoulder, thumb, and back, and leaving huge bruises on me. I’ve had months of physical therapy.

We were set up. We had done nothing wrong.”

As you can see from Kay’s photo, her arm is still in a brace, after months of treatment and physical therapy.  After she described the ordeal, she grinned slightly, with a sparkle in her eye, and said, “We have it all on videotape.”

According to Kay, the war not only includes theft of the property value and roughing up people who dare to speak out.  In addition, two weeks ago, someone shot one of her horses through the heart and killed it.  In telling her story, Kay paused, fighting back a tear, and said, “I’m hurting.   But I’m not giving up.”  She and her group will not be intimidated and will not back down.  They will tell their story.  They are getting news coverage, showing how so-called “smart growth” is harming black farmers, and they are fighting at the polls.  You can see more of her story at http://propertyrightswatch.org/ and the full text of her speech at http://propertyrightswatch.org/FrontNews.htm.

Unfortunately, Kay’s story is not unique.  Similar situations are arising all across the U.S., as various government entities are taking the control of land away from the rightful owners under the guise of preservation, ecology, and “smart growth”.  I spent a good part of the conference sitting next to the Hannas from Michigan, who are fighting against similar property use controls.

If only the many people who claim to care about protecting the environment or preserving farmland from “sprawl” could see what these so-called land protection policies are doing to real people like Kay McClanahan and the Hannas as well as to the land itself!  When those in power take control of property away from the rightful property owner and give it to someone else, they are acting like the mob, with the only difference being that they have the full force of the law behind them. Preventing the rightful property owners from using their land and from taking care of it as they think best is, quite simply, stealing.  The policies may be cloaked in some high-sounding language, but they are morally wrong and result in great harm to good, innocent people, like Kay MacLanahan, the Hannas, and their neighbors.  Not only that, but they prevent or create disincentives for the owners to take the steps they need to take in order to be good stewards of their land.  The owners know their land and how to care for it much better than do some central government planners, and they have a far greater incentive to do so, provided their property rights are protected.

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest / Search / White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN