In the wake of the Kelo decision of the US Supreme Court, which greatly diminished property rights in the US, many states moved to restrict the use of eminent domain. Now lawyers and politicians are finding loop holes in these laws.
A case in point can be found in the story of a Nashville business owner. From the Tennessean:
The city has begun legal proceedings to seize the property of a Music Row landowner who has refused to sell to a Houston developer, setting up a fight that has already prompted the involvement of a national advocacy group.The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency filed papers in a Nashville court Friday to start a process that would take the offices of Country International Records at 23 Music Circle East.
The action, the city's first test of eminent domain since the state legislature tightened condemnation laws two years ago, was taken after the agency determined that negotiations with building owner Joy Ford would not work, said Joe Cain, the agency's development director....
MDHA has argued that Ford's property can be considered blighted because it lies within the Arts Center Redevelopment District.
Dictionary.com defines blight as it relates to property as "the state or result of being blighted or deteriorated; dilapidation; decay: urban blight." It makes no mention that the property does not fit into politicians grand plan for their city. And yet, that is how the city of Nashville has redefined the word blight.
Joy Ford owns a thriving business. She does not want to sell it. As you can see from the photo below it is not what anyone could define as blighted property. Anyone except city officials eager to pander to developers.
Am I against development? No! But, I am against is the erosion of property rights in the US in this post-Kelo era.
One of my fears when the Kelo decision came down is that the same folks who were abusing eminent domain were the same ones supposedly fixing it. However, even with the passage of state and local laws to place restrictions on eminent domain, small business and home owners are at the whim of politicians and their army of attorneys who seek to increase their tax base through forced re-development.
