Q&A: An expert’s guide to eminent domain
“As Sears and new owners of Foothills Mall try to reach an agreement about Sears’ future at its Fort Collins mall property, the city’s potential use of eminent domain to remove the national retailer has become a hot-button issue.
Denver attorney Kenneth Skogg, with Lowe, Fell & Skogg, presented a workshop on eminent domain Friday in Fort Collins and answers some frequently asked questions about the sometimes controversial process here.
Q: What does a jury or commission consider when determining just compensation?
A: Colorado law does not generally provide compensation to a landowner for business value, good will, lost profits or business interruption costs as part of just compensation. The basis is that the government is taking real property only, not one’s entrepreneurial abilities.
Q: Does eminent domain work differently when an Urban Renewal Authority is involved?
A: Yes. In most eminent domain cases, the condemning authority, such as a town or city, takes the property for a public project such as a road, and continues to own the property.
Under a URA, the government entity takes the private property from one private landowner with the intent and expectation that it will convey the property to a private developer to redevelop the property in accordance with the urban renewal plan adopted by the city. Under a URA, the property must first be considered a blighted or slum area with the public purpose for eminent domain coming from the removal of blighted or slum area.
Q: Can eminent domain in a URA be used to spur economic development?
A: Not under Colorado’s urban renewal law. Colorado has a requirement that the purpose of eminent domain under a URA be to eliminate blight or a slum area.
Although some may argue that it looks like economic development is the core purpose, from a technical and legal perspective eminent domain can only be used within a URA to eliminate blight or slum from an area.”
Ferrer, Pat. The Coloradoan 5 February 2013.
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