New Hope for Eminent Domain Cases?
“Easy, convenient access is the lifeblood of a convenience store. Without it, a store can go from thriving to out of business. It is no wonder then that convenience store operators become anxious when government authorities propose “upgrades” to the road system, as a recent survey found that upgrades consisting of median installations reduced daily customers by 17.6 percent.
Unfortunately in many states, restrictions to access do not generate compensation to affected convenience store owners. To address this problem, the state of Virginia recently amended its constitution to specifically include lost access as part of the compensation to be paid to an affected owner. Virginia is part of the small vanguard of states seeking to expand compensation for lost access.
The Virginia initiative is a welcome enlightenment toward the plight of convenience store owners who are confronted with lost access from an eminent domain taking. While it still has shortcomings relative to the full panoply of access issues facing c-store owners, it may form the starting point for constitutional and statutory changes in other states.”
Biersdorf, Dan. Convenience Store News 20 March 2013.