Banning’s own Holocaust ?
Banning’s own Holocaust ?
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4/13/11 – How would you like to wake up one day to find out that the City of Banning quietly “re-zoned” your residential property to “industrial” zoning, without you ever receiving a written notice ? This is what happened to Banning resident and holocaust survivor Ingeborg Graves, who’s home on Charles Street is now practically worthless. Three other home owners, all living on Charles Street, are also affected.
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SMALL AD IN PAPER WAS THE EXTENT OF CITY’S PUBLIC “NOTICE”
According to records produced by the City of Banning, a small ad in the back pages of the Record Gazette in 2006 was
Graves' re-zoned home on Charles Street - now worthless
the only notification the City ever gave (view city ad).
In clear violation of the law, the City chose not to notify the affected home owners individually. Due process was violated, as it requires that each affected home owner be notified.
Graves and the other home owners had no idea a re-zoning had happened: only this year, when her daughter inquired about permits for repairs to the house, was she told by City officials that her zoning was changed and no permit whatsoever would be issued.
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UNIMAGINABLE CONSEQUENCES FOR 4 VICTIMIZED HOME OWNERS
Rezoning to “industrial” zoning spells disaster to these 4 home owners :.
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- they no longer own a residence, they now own industrial property
- for all practical purposes, they cannot sell their homes to anyone. No buyer in the right mind would buy a residence that is situated on industrially zoned land
- Should their homes burn down, they will not be issued a permit to rebuild
- If they needed a new roof, they will be denied to make such repair. Even simple repairs like replacing a water heater are now prohibited
- They no longer can re-finance their home or get a home equity line of credit. No mortgage lender in the entire United States will touch their properties
- For all practical purposes, these homes are now worthless : they are nothing more than a non-compliant structure situated on industrial land
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DESTROYING THE AMERICAN DREAM
Holocaust survivor Ingeborg Graves: victim of Banning tyranny
For Ingeborg Graves, owning her home in Banning has been the fulfillment of a life long dream. Graves is a holocaust survivor, who as a child was taken from her home and deported to a concentration camp, where many of her relatives died.
Now, for the second time in her life, she has her home essentially confiscated by authorities : this time it is the City of Banning, led by a ruthless City Council, that is ruining her life by destroying the use and value of her beloved home.
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CITY COUNCIL’S HIDDEN AGENDA : BRINGING IN THE LIBERTY ENERGY SLUDGE INCINERATOR
Why would the Banning City Council support such an outrageous and illegal action, you may ask ? The answer is simple : it appears that this nightmare is directly related to the City Council’s determination to bring us the Liberty Energy sludge incinerator.
Fortunately for all citizens of Banning, the Liberty Energy project was stopped in 2009 by way of a successful petition initiative. But much earlier, in 2006, the Banning City Council planned way ahead and quietly laid the groundwork so the incinerator could come to Banning.
As some of our readers may remember, Liberty Energy’s “Environmental Impact Report” (EIR) called for a large industrial “buffer zone” around the project, a zone where no homes were to be present due to concerns over toxic emission. Ingeborg Graves’ home on Charles Street was located inside this zone. This is why it was quietly targeted for “re-zoning” and was turned into industrial property. You may remember that Liberty Energy was planning to locate their plant on Charles Street as well.
But there is even more proof that the City Council literally went out of their way to bring in the Liberty Energy incinerator : In 2007 the City Council spent $ 430,798.00 to buy land on Charles Street specifically for the Liberty incinerator plant (source). The Council then issued a letter of intent to lease this land to the company.
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TERRORIZED HOMEOWNER THREATENING TO SUE CITY
Mrs. Graves and her daughter Michale feel completely tormented and terrorized by the lawlessness and outright tyranny displayed by the City of Banning. Both have had nightmares and are completely devastated. They have hired Moreno Valley attorney Michael Geller, who has sent a demand letter to the City. The letter asks for an immediate reversal back to residential zoning and for damages as well as attorney’s fees. To fully understand the victims’ plight , please take a moment and read the letter for yourself ( view attorney letter ).
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BANNING CITY COUNCIL – A COUNCIL OF TYRANNY
No homeowner should ever have to endure the kind of outright tyranny that these poor victims are now facing. This
Not surprisingly, Mayor Barbara Hanna was instrumental in this outright tyranny
episode should be a clear warning to every Banning citizen : “you could be next”. Lawlessness and tyranny is how this City operates and that is why the Banning government cannot be trusted.
Showing complete disregard for private property rights, John Machisic voted for the quiet re-zoning
Ruling with an iron fist, the Banning City Council must be considered the foremost enemy of the people of Banning. This case goes to show that none of the City Council members have any problem selling you down the river in order to accommodate special interest, in this case Liberty Energy. They all knew that the 4 affected homeowners had little or no money to fight the City in court. So they went ahead and railroaded them – plain and simple.
The following City Council members are responsible for secretly re-zoning the four Banning homeowner’s residential properties in 2006 :
BARBARA HANNA, JOHN MACHISIC, ART WELCH, SUE PALMER, BRENDA SALAS – ( view resolution – Council ordinance # 1339 )
These Council members couldn’t care less if the new ordinance ruined these people’s lives, terrorized them, collapsed their property values and violated due process. They went ahead and voted in favor.
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