Fargo makes threat of eminent domain
“City officials here are edging closer to using eminent domain to legally seize a home for flood control purposes – a first among the hundreds of homes acquired in the metro area since the record-high flood of 2009.
If the house is forcibly seized by court order, it will be the first time the city has done so for flood protection at least since the 1997 flood, city officials said.
Neither Cass County nor Moorhead – where buyouts have also been widespread since the 2009 flood – has used or threatened to use eminent domain for flood control in recent years.
“This is an unusual circumstance,” said Nancy Morris, an assistant city attorney in Fargo.”
Burgess, Erik. InForum 16 February 2014.