Developer greed is happening… an article in the SF Chronicle today addresses property owners fighting with developers in the East Bay, while California liberals are quickly putting together bills that would penalize those using eminent domain and force restrictions on developers.
I read the transcript of an eminent domain debate on PBS from June this year between John Norquist (president of the Congress on New Urbanism and former Milwaukee mayor) and Bart Peterson (vp of the National League of Cities and current Indianapolis mayor). Peterson agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision that developers can seize property for private use, given that it promotes economic development (as loose and broad as I think that term may be). Peterson says that the Supreme Court is just reaffirming what has already been defined as “eminent domain.” Even if that’s the case, an affirmation is a bold, green light to developers that anyone’s private property is not necessarily an obstable anymore. How scary is that for the community of homeowners and business owners? No longer can some feel safe in the attainment of their asset wealth, particularly if that asset is in prime developer territory. So what if you get bought out with “just compensation” for your home or business? There’s something more to your assets than just money. And, yes, that brings up the problem of quantifying your asset value and whether you can actually get “just” compensation. I think it’s a scary affirmation made by the Supreme Court.
The flip side, or maybe more accurately the bigger picture, of the Supreme Court story is that the 5-4 decision is really about who makes the decision to harness and restrict the use of eminent domain, not about how eminent domain is defined. It is what it is. Power to take over property while providing compensation to current owner. The Supreme Court isn’t telling us that they want people to lose their homes and their businesses to developers armed with multiplexes, big boxes, and high-class condos. Perhaps the Court’s decision is really about trusting that cities and states will regulate the use of eminent domain. I don’t agree with what happened to Kelo as a result of the decision, but I can see that the Court has high expectations of U.S. cities and states to take into serious consideration the consequences of the decision. Destroying to create for the public good and destroying to create for the private are different animals. We hope that cities and planning agencies see and realize that uprooting the homes and businesses of community members for private profit is not good, community-based planning.