Fracas over home seizures moves to states

Some reform legislation will likely be "watered down" through statehouse compromises, Berliner says. But "given how strong the movement is to do something on this, it is going to be difficult for states to pass [merely] cosmetic legislation," she adds. "They really are going to have to do something."

Many on the redevelopment side of the debate say they are perplexed by the fact that they won their case at the Supreme Court but appear to have lost it in the court of public opinion. Some credit effective public-relations efforts by property rights groups, while others say members of the media have distorted the issue by favoring homeowners in their news coverage.

Proposals for eminent-domain reform range from an outright ban on property seizures for economic development to beefed-up regulatory processes requiring more community involvement earlier in the planning process. Some states have halted all seizures of homes, pending study by the legislature.

Timothy Sandefur, a lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation, favors limiting home seizures to projects involving actual government use of the property. But many states are likely to push for something less, he says. He is not impressed by the reforms adopted in the four states that have already taken action. Reform-minded lawmakers should use those states as models of what not to do, he says.

Alabama and Texas continue to allow public seizures when property is deemed "blighted." But Mr. Sandefur says vague definitions of what constitutes "blight" leave giant loopholes in those state laws.

A proposed law in Pennsylvania has a focused definition of blight and is thus a reform effort with real teeth, he says. "Blight is dangerous property," Sandefur says. "It is property that attracts rats. It is property that is going to fall down. It is property that is going to burn up."

In contrast, the definition of blight in some states is so all-encompassing that it embraces any property that is not producing enough sales-tax revenue for the government, Sandefur says.

Community Rights Counsel's Mr. Dowling favors a legislative approach under consideration in New York. "They are thinking of ways to enhance property rights without tying the hands of state and local governments where a job-creation project does require the use of eminent domain," he says.

Lawmakers there may offer homeowners an increased level of compensation above the required fair market value for their property, Dowling says, to help cover some of the noneconomic costs associated with eminent-domain efforts.

"I don't think it has to be an either/or situation between never using eminent domain and always using it," he says. In many cases, he says, eminent domain is an essential tool to counteract a property owner who is holding out to extort a lucrative deal from city or state officials whose only goal is to achieve a greater good for the community.

Page: 1 | 2