Don’t blight the hand that feeds you: Stop eminent domain abuse
“Just this past September, Denver’s City Council voted to designate 29 city blocks as “blighted,” covering some 85 acres. Adding insult to injury, some of these blighted homes were Victorian houses that are well over a century old. Homeowners and business owners were furious at the designation, since the Denver Urban Renewal Authority now has the power to seize their property with eminent domain. One activist compared blight to “calling someone’s baby ugly.”
One month later in nearby Thornton, that city’s council voted unanimously for an urban renewal project that allows eminent domain for private development. Covering over 664 acres, 290 property parcels will be affected, including three churches, a nursing home, five apartment complexes and many restaurants and offices. Meanwhile, city officials in Fort Collins could seize a Sears with eminent domain.
What’s even more galling is that Colorado has reformed its eminent domain laws, but that reform was clearly not what it should have been if property rights are to be respected. In 2006, the General Assembly passed HB 1411, which amended the definition of “public use.” This was done to ban “the taking of private property for transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenue.” Although that was a step in the right direction, HB 1411 still allows the government to seize any property deemed “blighted,” which is loosely defined. As we are now seeing in practice, that is a loophole large enough to drive a bulldozer through.”
Sibilla, Nick. Denver Post 10 April 2013.