The WSJ profiles developer Jim Koman of Koman Properties Inc., and questions whether eminent domain is the only realistic tool for growth in severely depressed urban areas like East St. Louis.
"Many builders say eminent domain is the only way to bring services and jobs to areas like East St. Louis.
...[T]o build in an urban area like East St. Louis, Mr. Koman must rely on eminent domain -- the government's power to force a landowner to sell property at what is considered a fair price. The State Street project wouldn't have happened if the city hadn't used the threat of eminent domain to clear about 40 houses and a gas station, Mr. Koman says. Of those properties, only two owners held out for long periods, and one of those buildings was condemned and appropriated through eminent domain after the owner refused to settle.
...Such cases have received new attention following the Supreme Court decision in June upholding the use of eminent domain to seize property for private use. Opponents of the eminent-domain doctrine have pointed to high-profile cases such as arenas and other big urban-development projects as evidence of abuse. But situations such as Mr. Koman's are far more common and in some ways knottier."
[Editor's note: The link below is available to non-subscribers for a period of 7 days.]
Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism Listserv
FULL STORY: Eminent Domain: Is It Only Hope For Inner Cities?
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