Eviction Notice.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Property Rights: Few residents in a small Florida coastal community have heard of the Supreme Court's Kelo decision. Many of them, however, are about to learn. Then they'll wish they'd never heard of it.

Riviera Beach, Fla., a Palm Beach County town of 33,000 on the state's southeast coast, is planning to build an ambitious $1 billion waterfront yachting and housing complex that will include a hotel, shops, restaurants and perhaps an aquarium. The city believes the sparkling development will create 1,000 jobs and provide a much-needed economic boost.

Standing in the way, though, are 6,000 people who happen to be living where the development is planned. A spokesman for Viking Inlet Harbor Properties, the private firm selected to oversee the project, has told the media that it will "use condemnation as a last resort." But many of these folks are likely to be forced from their homes through the practice of eminent domain.

Oh, yes -- let's not forget that most of the residents who will give up their homes for a playground for the wealthy happen to be poor and black.

Already there are homeowners who say they'll refuse to step aside for the project. But who are they to go against the power of the city? A lesson in recent history reveals that their prospects of successfully resisting ...