MEDAC released the following press release earlier this week:
On Tuesday, May 9th, 9:00 a.m., in Hearing Room #5 of the Capitol, MEDAC will ask
the Goveronor to veto “Hobbs’ bill” (HB 1944) and declare a moratorium on eminent domain for private gain until the legislature can further consider it in special session or next year. We will travel to the capitol by bus and cars to make our statement.
Since the Kelo Supreme Court decision last summer, people have protested the TAKING of properties for private gain. The Hobbs’ bill allows any property to be taken if it is located in an area in which a city classifies 51% or more of the property as “blighted, unsanitary or substandard”. In short, safe, decent, property can be taken because a neighbor’s property is blighted and blight is very nebulous and subjective.
Compensation is not equal or just in Hobbs’ bill. The bill proposed to pay some people 150%, some 125%, and some 100% of “fair market value”. Several farmers testified to the Governor’s task force or legislative committees. They wanted to be treated with respect by MoDOT or utility companies and paid what it would cost them to replace their property with equally useful/valuable property. Home owners did not want their homes taken for private use and, if taken for public use, they wanted what it would cost to replace their home in a setting equally desirable to them. To anyone forced to sell, just compensation is ALWAYS more than fair market value and is not an exact percentage of fair market value.
Municipalities claim eminent domain is a necessary tool to remove blight and redevelop an area. In fact, many communities that 20-40 years ago were severely distressed, such as Soulard, Lafayette Square, Shaw, and Old North St. Loiuis, have fully recovered without eminent domain. Furthermore, eminent domain is only attempted in neighborhood where development is already possible. In really bad neighborhoods no one attempts to use eminent domain to solve the problems.
In April, the Georgia Legislature passed a far better bill, HB 1313. Essentially, it said that a property has to be a danger to public health and safety to be designated as blighted. It also required that individual properties, as opposed to areas, be designated as “blighted”.
This week the Florida Legislature passed HB 1567 which protects all citizens equally. It prohibits the taking of private property to prevent or eliminate slum or blight conditions or to abate or eliminate public nuisances. The bill also said that property taken for public use may not be sold to private parties for a period of ten years.
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