Deseret News | Property seized for new Magna library

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Property seized for new Magna library

Mike | 12:59 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

I don't understand what this guy did wrong that the state seized all his stuff. Is this not a free country? Does a man not have a right to do as he pleases on his own property? He wasn't hurting anyone. What gives the state the right to take someone's land and posessions just because they want to build something? Do the people of the state not have the same rights as the government to build their dreams? Please help me understand this.

nottyou | 7:04 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Won't a lawyer with a heart, if there is one, help this guy if it's not too late? I like how the county condemned his land so they could build a county library...something smells fishy here and it's not just Magna. Is this America?

This Land | 7:26 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

This land is MY land!
That land is MY land!
.....
This land was made for me to own!

-Love the Government

Comments continue below

Too Bad | 7:33 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Aw, and I was going to take my kids to GarbageLand when it opened...

Good riddance! I'm glad the county stepped in and did something to correct this horrible eyesore!

liberal Larry | 7:32 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Why wasn't someone from the county interviewed. I think there are a lot of missing parts to this story. Also, don't you think the headline is a little inflammatory?

alm | 7:43 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Does the Constitution provide that Governments and big businesses can arbitrarily seize a citizen's property? I've seen it done many times, and never yet have I seen the seizer offer the owner a fair price for their land. Why is it being done at will? Why don't you tell us the full details of the excuse used by the city to take this man's property. By the way, did the city give the cash to the man for the sale of his metal???

R U clueless | 7:53 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Do you want a junk yard right next to your home? Do you want a junk yard on main street in the nice town or city where you live? A free country still cannot allow anyone to horde junk and create an eyesore or safety hazard in an area that is not zoned for salvage and/or re-cycling of metals etc. You seem clueless as to the process which the city has gone through. Yes, we all have civil liberties and rights but there is a limit to how much junk you can horde thereby destroying my property value by creating an eyesore nextdoor. 75 loads of junk hauled away! Get a grip! Keep your junk in your garage and keep it outa my neighborhood. Remember, even you may need to sell your home someday. Who is going to buy your home next to a huge collectiom of trash?

Holy Cow | 7:55 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

This ought to scare the crap out of everyone.

Did I wake up this morning in Communist China?

Where the heck am I...I can't be in America.

This guy sounds just a little wacko. Sounds like he might not be 100% "there." Sounds like Magna took advantage of a guy who coudn't do for himself.

Free property...The rest of us pay for ours, but it sounds like some people in Magna have found a way to get it for free...Find a place with a little junk. Don't help the guy clean it up, nope. Condemn the land, and take it away.

Did they find any toxic chemicals...NOPE

Did they find any old military unexploded ordinance...NOPE

Did they find any rotting corpses...NOPE

They found the guys old stuff. Mostly metal. I have a scrap load of metal of different sizes and shapes I use for welding. I go out and cut the piece I need for whatever project I am working on. It is worth thousands in weight, and getting more valuable as the markets tumble.

Do I need to worry about waking up one day, and losing my house and home?

This story should outrage everyone in America. Holy Cow!

Neighbor | 7:57 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Are you two previous commenters kidding? He *wasn't* building, and in more than two decades of piling up junk he hadn't taken the first steps toward building. He was never going to be able to build -- nor would he ever have the money to repair any of his collected junk. Broken tractor parts? Frayed gloves? That's only the beginning of the trash he piled up here.

Meanwhile, for a generation, we have been living with the rats and insects he attracted, and our children have been at risk from injury and disease. (What kid can resist an unfenced junkyard, no matter how strict his parents are?)

He didn't have a dream, or even a fantasy. He has a delusion! And the rest of us have paid the price.

The property was condemned, both for the hazard it was and because he couldn't or wouldn't pay the fines that had accumulated as high as his junk piles. He forfeited his property just the same as I would if I didn't pay my taxes or other obligations to the state, after many years and many opportunities to set things right.

Save your bleeding hearts for a situation that deserves it!!

Ernest Hemple | 7:58 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

How about if this guy takes over the new Salt Lake City Library and give the city two weeks to get rid of all of the books, then recycles any books not cleared out. If we like it, we take it? Imminent Domain is being abused. What did the county pay him for taking his dream?

evensteven | 8:16 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Not knowing all the details, it is easy to pile on the County here. Disgusting, heavy-handed, tyrannical. Perhaps his property was an eyesore and the County had good intentions about cleaning up the street. But the ends do not justify the means. Was this the only suitable location for a library? Was condemnation really necessary? It is situations like these that shed light on the Founder's original impulse to include property ownership as an unalienable right. Corroon and the County Council have some explaining to do.

Bill | 8:16 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Sounds like Mr. Killpack had a dream, but no funds or realistic plans to carry out his dream. That's what's called a junk pile. If he had a case, he'd be able to hire an attorney. It's almost too late now.

Anonymous | 8:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

This isn't a free country. We have certain rules and Kilpatrick stepped over some zoning ones with his city. That is why he had the fines.

However, the city should have to pay in full for its thievery. It took this guy's land and his junk and also some very valuable antiques it would seem. It is simply wrong to take someone's property because they won't give it to you for a fraction of its value.

Magna Native | 8:29 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

I agree with Mike and nottyou. How is that the state can just seize his property? Unless he isn't paying his property taxes I see no reason for the state to be able to come in and force him out. Like Mike mentioned, this is a free country and this man should be able to collect his treasure or someone elses "junk" on his property if he so desires. AND what about the antiques the state found on his property? The state thinks they can just auction them off and keep the money for their debt? Come on! These are his items and this whole situation is wrong. Right now I am disappointed to be a Utahn for this reason. Shame on you city/county government!!

Magna | 8:52 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

I love Magna!

diligentdave | 9:00 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Despite the charge of the guy collecting what apparently most others perceived as junk, still, it seems rather opportunistic of the county to force the sale, and pay for the clean up with fines against the guy, lessening his equity.

Of course, your "liberal" friends on the Supreme Court (NOT the conservative ones), would back up the usurper (the county), as they did a year or two ago. They are the communist/Marxist people who would do that.

This man has been wronged!

I'm sorry I don't have the money to hire an attorney for him.

Eugene | 9:22 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Did anyone take a look at the accompanying photographs to the article? Everything looked like junk with nothing that would be attractive for any museum, unless it was a landfill.

Sounds like the county and the neighbors have been putting up with this for years!! The photos proved that this is a public nuisance and the law was followed to take care of the problem. Yes, I support personal land ownership without the threat of government intrusion, but I also believe in personal responsibility to ensure our rights don't trample on the rights of our neighbors.

The owner should have recycled these things himself and could have benefited from the money himself instead of fighting the duty to be civically responsible.

Anonymous | 9:24 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

'Property condemned after Mr. K failed to negotiate a sale'. If he did want to sell his property he shouldn't be forced to. Iminant domain law comes to mind. By law when a government wants a property they have to pay the the person fair market value as well as enough to help them re-locate elsewhere.

What the county did was underhanded. I know of a lot of places in the valley that are 'eye sores' but they haven't be condemned, but then again the county doesn't want those properties for their fancy library do they.

I thought that Utah was a part of the US of A but more and more it is begining to look like it is its own little country. Federal Laws don't apply to people living in Utah unless it is to the convience of the state, county or local government.

Dave | 9:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

The supreme court has ruled. Basically any Government, from locall to Federal can take anyones 'private property' for any reason they can dream up.

suzyk | 9:36 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

My thoughts are this man has defied the laws and rules of the City of Magna. He has been fined and never paid the fees. I would not be happy living in that area with all the toxic junk and just the "eyesore" it is. It deflates property value and who wants varmints, etc. in your neighborhood. I know he had a dream 20+ years? Come on, it was just a dream or something would have come of it. It tooks many manhours and gas to haul off that junk so unfortunately because of the expense he did not receive compensation. He refused to work with the city and that says to me it was just a dream no reality attached to it. I'm surprised the City allowed him to go on like this for 20 years. Someone wasn't paying attention or didn't want to or actually, didn't care about the surrounding neighbor's safety or property value. Someone dropped the ball and he shouldn't get away from the lack of. I feel sorry for the man but this is a free country and with it comes rules and regulations to keep it free. The city did right.

domain | 10:28 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

So the guy owes 30K in fines. They haul off all the "junk" metal and sell it to "recyclers." How much did the county make in that deal? Show us the numbers. The money for that junk belongs to the owner of the property before the state stole it.

So the guy now has no chance to sell his property either, which is still worth a quite a bit in SL county. The county should have paid him fair market value for it no matter how trashy it looked. It's still worth a handsome sum of money to anyone who has to live within a budget.

Tax payers lose, government wins another one. Shameful.

non-agression axiom | 10:28 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

If an individual does not have the right to steal property from another person, then how can we delegate that right to the government?

How can we give a power away that we don't possess originally?

The government is unique from any other organization in that it alone has the sanction of using violence against those who do not conform. You and I cannot do that.

I have to wonder why we're all so casual as to allow the state to get away with this. It's an outrage to the human conscience.

re: MIKE and others | 10:37 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

In order for a government to take property from someone they must first "Condem" the property. To condem a property means that the government can't collect taxes on the property. This puts the property at a "no-value" situation and means that no person can live on it and no thing can reside on it. Then the government takes the property by eminant domain in order to give it value again. YES, this should scare everyone. Keep in mind that in Utah you pay your property taxes in reverse and not forward. When you pay taxes this Oct, you are really paying from Oct of last year to Oct of this year. That way the State has a year jump on you. The only thing this man can do is hire his own appraiser and fight for a higher value of the property.

Some trivia | 10:50 a.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Did you know...that the landmark case for eminent domain has to do with a sandwich shop that was torn down for a highrise complex?
The highrise complex was the World Trade Center in NYC.

Magna resident | 12:02 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Salt Lake County Zoning ordinance regarding JUNK is intentionaly vague and arbitrarily applied.One county inspector (now retired)told one magna family that they had to take the kids toys in at night or they were in violation I myself was told having 2 or more of one item in yard made it JUNK my son had bikes he would share with his friends who didn't have one and we had 2 hard plastic wadding pools (stacked for strength) were junk. Trying to comply with zoning enforcement is like hitting a moving target they keep changing their interpitation of the ordinance. They also enforce selectifly rpeated complaints over 10 years of junk at Magna Times no enforcement yet there. at one time the Sheriffs hielacopter was used to take pictures of backyards (very costly) many abuses by county going unreported trespass climbing fences ect. We need to ALL find out and speak up before it is TO LATE YOU COULD BE NEXT

Two Issues | 12:23 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

It seems to me there are two issues here. 1) The property on the land (the stuff), which was an eyesore and a possible hazard to the community. 2) The land itself.

If the stuff was hazardous, attracting rats, poorly stored (75 truckloads is a lot -- but what was the size of the truck? Was it a high-capacity panel truck or a pickup truck?), and generally causing problems to the community -- then that is what needs to be dealt with.

The story only said the man had been fined $30,000 in the past, but it did not mentioned whether or not Kilpack owed anything at the time the property was seized.

If Kilpack owed the county, then I might agree the county had reason to seize the stuff and/or real property in order to pay taxes, fines, etc.

HOWEVER. Seizing the real property itself, after likely offering bottom-dollar to negotiate a sale, and seizing everything of value the man has is ridiculous.

Neighbors: If his stuff was *that bad* of a hazard and niusance, then OK. I can see your point TO THAT END.

But get a grip, people. they took his house. Are you that bloodthirsty?

man in Magna | 12:37 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

If the county is wanting to rid Magna of junk they should look at the Harmon property on 8920w south of 3200s junk cars tall weeds tons of scrap metal ect. Oh that's right rules don't apply here (POWER=FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES) that is where the Days of 47 keep their stuff. For you or I this would be a $50.00 a day zoning FINE. The county took advantage of a hard working man with a mental problem. The $30,000.00 fine made it so he could not even get a loan to fix the place up the $30,000.00 should not apply to the price of the property he should get the full highest market value

death of a republic | 12:44 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

There was an eminent domain case in New London, CT a few yrs ago.

It went to the Supreme Court who upheld (Kelo v City of New London) in favor of the city who razed some middle class homes for a upscale multi use development.

This and the Wall St Bailouts prove that this America isn't the same country as when I was a kid and I'm not even 40.

Neighbors...Yeah right! | 12:53 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

What has been done to this guy is totally a violation of his rights.

What you "neighbors" did to this guy in magna is totally unethical.

Old pieces of scrap metal don't attract vermen. I hope I don't burts your bubble, but I live next to an open field, and mice naturally live there.

The guy is a waco for sure. He probably needs help upstairs. He was easy for you "neighbors" up in Magna to do nothing short of steal his property. Shame on you "neighbors" up in Magna.

This situation is totally unethical. I had a neighbor once who was not all together upstairs. I had to watch out for her. I had to see who was over. More than once she was taken advantage of by "neighbors" like they have in Magna. She was stolen from, she was robbed. Just like you "neighbors" do up in Magna. Just because she had special needs, and trusted people.

Shame on you "neighbors" in Magna. Notice how these "neighbors" never pitched in and helped the guy who needed help, but in the end stole his property right out from under him. Everybody needs "neighbors" like that. Yeah right.

old man | 12:59 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

They took 3 houses not one Remember if you live in Salt Lake county and say or do nothing you are party to this Call Write and Email the COUNTY tell them no to stealing a mans home this way. I want the Library but not this way. they should name it the kill Kilpack branch

Horrible...Just Horrible | 1:05 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

For those of you writing in support of the city/county/state. For those of you writing that it is the governments right to seize your property. I am worried about you.

This is how it starts. Hitler didn't get all the Jews to the camps in one day. It took him a little bit of time to build the momentum to even suggest it.

When the government gets away with something this horrible, and residents write that it is A-OK with them because the guy had mental problems, I think that is just horrible, just horrible.

This situation should scare the living crap out of everyone in America. If you supporters can support this, what else will you support the government doing.

I cannot even believe that something like this could even happen in American.

I remember the famous Germans on trial for these sorts of acts against Jews..."I was just following orders." They would say. "I was just following the rules."

If the rules/law say that what what was done to this guy was right, then we should really start to question the ethics of the powers that be in Magna.

Don't forget these things in November elections...

neighbor | 1:14 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

I am his neighbor I have helped him. IT is not Magna neighbors that did this but Salt Lake County.credit where due please

yea right............ | 1:43 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

county did it not Magna neighbors

R U Clueless | 2:19 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

What a bunch of clueless civil libertarians I just shake my head. If I had a junk heap next door to my property I would use a 45 gallon drum of diesel fuel and a few sticks of dynamite not to mention napalm if the owner did not clean up his junk. It is totally obvious none of you folks have never had to sell your home located right next to a trash dump. Worse yet I cringe at the thought of just living next to a rat-infested junk-heap. Sadly, it takes years of red tape and hearings and pleas to politicians before MY RIGHTS prevail against the rights of property owners such as in this case. Zoning laws are there for a lot of very good reasons. Do you have any pride in your community or your neighborhood. How long would you tolerate this trash dump on your street. I am very curious to take a peek at your property. Maybe there are more junk dealers and collectors than I ever imagined when I visit from outta state.

Cry me a river | 4:04 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

A blight was removed, and all the surrounding property improved by it. Net loss? Zero - this "museum" had no hopes of getting off the ground or sustaining itself.

That he is now claiming valuable objects were somewhere in the junk is simply an attempt to bargain in a suit. There were no valuables there.

One less blight and eyesore, one more library. I don't see the loss.

Russell D. | 4:32 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

When the county seized the property, the law requires that the property owner be paid market value for the land. What did he do with the money?
It seems to me he should have used it to hire a competant lawyer to get a court order to stop the removal of his personal items from the property.
The power of eminent domain only allows for seizure of land, not personal property located therin. He has an excellent opportunity for a civil suit against the county for exceeding their legal authority in taking his property. At the very least he should be the one receiving payment from the salvage company.

re: crying river | 4:36 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

You don't see the loss?

Scrap metal is worth something. Land is worth something. He got nothing for his property. The state stole it and in return gave him his life, he doesn't end up in prison. How's that for a loss, and a violent one at that.

And further, why on earth would the county decide to put a library on a worthless, rat infested spot? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Well, it probably doesn't make YOU wonder, but there are still those of us who can think beyond our own fences and without the use of teleprompters.

k | 5:59 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Over years he accumulated fines of $30,000. This didn't happen all of a sudden.

Putting a library in a location does increase the value of the surrounding area and is a magnet for more improvements in the community. A 20 year junk yard brings down values. But in any event the public will benefit from the library and the government has the legal right to obtain land by paying fair value in order to build a library for public enjoyment.

They seized his property yes. When he didn't remove all the belongings they had it carted off just like any landowner has a right to do with abandoned property from a previous owner/renter. Furthermore the fair value of the property that the city pays him should be minus the cost of carting off the abandoned property.

Someone who knows. | 6:22 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

I have been to that property before, and have seen it with my own eyes. It was a massive junkyard, one that had been in place for years.

I sincerely doubt that any of the chest-thumping pseudo-Constitutionalists here would have tolerated any of their neighbors accumulating junk for two decades on the principle that "someday" they'll build something with it, and besides it's their property anyway.

Eminent domain is a principle enshrined in the 5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which states that "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

A public library is a public use, unlike the situation in the Kelo decision where the city took the land in order to sell it to a developer. The only Constitutional issue here is if the owner was properly compensated for his property.

Otherwise, three cheers for Salt Lake County.

Anti-PC Infidel | 7:54 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

>Is this not a free country?

No. Unfortunately, it's now pretty much a socialist country.

dp | 8:35 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Oh, the irony.

For the last several years I've been listening to conservatives whine about traffic, and how if it wasn't for mean ol' Rocky Anderson you'd have had Legacy a long time ago. Probably a lot of you same conservatives I see throwing a hissyfit over eminent domain, in fact.

Guess what?

Were it not for eminent domain, you wouldnt have Legacy. Or I-215. Or Bangerter. Or the expanded I-15 through SL County. And those are just the major roads within my memory. All had to have some property taken for them, and i'm sure it's a very incomplete list.

Imagine the traffic woes without it.

As you're driving home from work this week, much more quickly than you would have otherwise, consider that fact, and then tell me how evil eminent domain is.

I'm sure you'll find you don't really mind as much, as long as it's something you really want being built. Odds are, you never even considered it in that context. Perhaps you should, it'll tell you worlds about your hypocrisy.

Matthew | 10:42 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

It is obvious that many posting here
A) Didn't, or couldn't, read the article and comprehend what was written.
B) Haven't, or can't, read the U.S. Constitution, Utah Constitution and related laws and statutes and comprehend them.
What happened to this guy was as American as Apple Pie. The problem seems to be that this dreamer couldn't come to terms with reality enough to fight the condemnation or to relocate his "collection."
I feel sorry for him, but not because of anything Salt Lake County did. Hopefully these events will help him wake up to reality enough to actually work towards realizing some of his dreams.

America the beautiful | 11:22 p.m. Sept. 21, 2008

Did the county give this man every chance to clean up his property? I agree that if I had to live next to a junk pile with adverse effects on my property values and possibly my health, that I would be very pleased to see the county clean it up. It would be an infringement on my rights to have this eyesore and safety hazard grow next to me. I can see this side of the argument.
It also looks as if the owner's rights were violated. This man sounds way out there, but he still has personal and property rights. Do what is right and fair to both parties. I'm sure it can be done.
If the powers that be are not fair to this man they will be held accountable.
If not in this life, for sure in the next!

John in FL | 4:53 a.m. Sept. 22, 2008

I am glad that I am not a neighbor to this mess but I do have regrets that these kind of measures must be taken. "some trivia" hummmm, maybe I would not like to be a neighbor to the new library either!!

I cannot believe this | 7:58 a.m. Sept. 22, 2008

There is a difference between eminent domain to build a highway, and eminent domain to build a library.

There is a lot less give and take on where to put a highway, and rarely indeed does it affect one individual person.

When eminent domain is utilized to target one individual person, then you don't have eminent domain. What you have is outright theft.

Sure, eminent domain was used by the Government to build Bangerter highway. It affected hundreds of people. If it had affected only ONE person, I'd bet you would be getting the same response you are getting here.

The county already owns property that would be highly suitable for a library. The city already owns property that would also be suitable for a library. Why target one person? That is why there is an uproar here. I am not a civil libertarian. I think that Government should be able to build highways and libraries. But this looks to me like they are targeting a guy who they already had problems with.

It looks like they used eminent domain to target one specific citizen. And that is not right.

Libraries need to be built, but not like this!

Not Like This | 8:08 a.m. Sept. 22, 2008

We want libraries and government built highways.

We want good things.

But not like this. No way like this.

This is not right from any angle. It strikes me of a sneaky used car salesman, or a pyramid snakeoil huckster. Yeah, they get what they want ($$$), but do they do it ethically. NOPE.

Magna, and Salt Lake county, you are better than this. We don't want a library like this.

In life you can get what you want without getting blood on your hands. Just do things ethically and morally right. Not like this.

WE WANT LIBRARIES, HIGHWAYS, ETC. BUT NOT LIKE THIS!

k | 8:45 a.m. Sept. 22, 2008

No. There is no difference between using eminent domain to build a highway and it used to build a library.

The county had given him years to clean up the property. It got worse not better. I see it a coincidence that the library was planned on his former property.

The placement of a library has more alternatives that a highway plan, but it still has to be built in an approapriate place to ensure the best usage for as many as possible. You wouldn't want a library next to a junk yard.

The article could have been more balanced.

Huge difference | 11:03 a.m. Sept. 22, 2008

There is a huge difference between building a highway on land that is already owned by hundreds of people, and building a library on one persons property.

The county already had alternatives for the library.

Clean up the guys yard, but dont resort to these tactics. The library is not being placed next to a junk yard. The library is being built ON the junk yard.

There is a HUGE difference between using domain to build a highway, or a library for instance, but doing it this way smacks of all kinds of unethical decisions that have been made along the way by county and city decision makers.

The county already has property for a library. Sheesh. The tradgedy is not what the county and city did to this guy. The tragedy is that people are supporting the leaders who did this to somebody. According to their rule of thumb, they can start calling anything junk and take over anybodys house.

And the supporters just pat themselves on the back and say "eminent domain" there is nothing you can do about it. Well, the county already has property suitable for a library.

Give the guy his property back.

Zadruga Guy | 2:06 p.m. Sept. 22, 2008

The guy brought his problems upon himself. The county gave the guy plenty of time and opportunties to move his junk off of the land. It was his failure to do so that forced the county to do it for him.

Whether or not the county has other Magna property "suitable" for a library is beside the point. The county decided that the junk yard land was the MOST SUITABLE location for it. Assuming that the county paid the guy the fair market value for his land and otherwise dotted the "i"s and crossed the "t"s in the condemnation proceedings, then no one has any reason to complain.

Barbara | 10:39 p.m. Sept. 22, 2008

There is a book waiting to be written in this story. Cheer for your heroes, boo your villains, folks.
I'm just glad I don't live out there next to the property in question.

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