Curbing abuse of eminent domain
“We don’t, however, want to overlook the protections that House Bill 1107, signed by Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday, will offer against the conversion of farms into strip malls at taxpayer expense.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Lamar, and Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, was helped by broad support from farmers, environmentalists, local governments and local planners. Some of the most outrageous examples of eminent domain usage occur when government, which wants to sweeten the deal for developers, uses its powers of condemnation to forcibly purchase agricultural land so it can be made part of a package to coax retail development.”
Editorial. The Denver Post, 18 April 2010.