Colorado Springs City Council ready to tackle eminent domain ordinance
“Colorado Springs City Council member Joel Miller will likely find out Tuesday if his fellow council members support his proposal to tighten the city’s rules on government takeover of private property.
Miller’s proposed eminent domain ordinance has rallied supporters who believe it is necessary to protect property owners from government’s grip as the city moves forward with a number of urban renewal projects.
It also has galvanized critics who say the ordinance would strangle economic development.
Miller began pursuing changes to the city’s eminent domain policy in January shortly after the city released artist renderings of the City for Champions project. Some property owners wondered aloud why the drawings of a downtown stadium, parking structure and U.S. Olympic museum were drawn right over their property, he said then.
“They are nervous, and justifiably so,” Miller said then.
At first, Miller wanted the ordinance to say that the city would not condemn private property for a private development. State law prohibits taking private property “for transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenue.”
But as Miller did research, he learned that Colorado cities often use the Urban Renewal Authority to declare an area as “blight” – which could include such factors as inadequate street layout, unsafe conditions, unusual topography or conditions that endanger life or property.”
Mendoza, Monica. The Gazette 12 May 2014.