For the past several months Eminent Domain – the right or power of the state to take private property for public use or to control its use – has become a hot-stove political issue. The turmoil surrounding Eminent Domain stems from a recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of a governmental organization in Connecticut to use Eminent Domain to force a person to sell his house to allow for the reuse of the land for a commercial real estate development.
The right or power of the government to use Eminent Domain was checked by the framers of the Constitution by including language in the Fifth Amendment that states “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”
Here, Eminent Domain evokes memories of the City of St. Louis using the power to remove thousands of black families from the Mill Creek area – described as a “blighted” community – during the 1950s to build Highway 40 and commercial developments. A number of blacks complained, but this was when black people had no rights the white power structure felt compelled to respect.
Now Eminent Domain has become a major issue for white people. Urban sprawl and the need for suburban municipalities in St. Louis County to increase their tax bases through the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts that wield Eminent Domain to snag land and entice developers have brought this issue to the forefront. It was why voters in the 24th Ward recalled Tom Bauer. Opposition to its use in Maplewood caused the Maplewood City Council to withdraw its support for a major development. In Sunset Hills the specter of a lawsuit by residents (who were aided by a competing retail developer) caused delays in financing contingencies for a controversial project.
In the City of St. Louis, a fight over Eminent Domain has the potential of stalling or killing the extension of the Martin Luther King Shopping Plaza near the intersection of Page and Grand at Martin Luther King Drive. Prior to the development of the land that the MLK Plaza now sits on, nothing stood there but vacant houses and empty lots. The project has been stalled by the owner of a building located at 1401 N. Grand, the site of the old Baptist Education Center. The owner of the property is listed by the city as St. Louis Housing and Service with offices at 2953 Martin Luther King Drive. The developers, led by Jim Koman of Koman Properties, have filed documents in court to use Eminent Domain to force the property owner to sell the property to them.
The owner(s) of the property are represented by former 1st Ward Alderwoman Irene Smith. On November 4, 2004, while Smith was still a member of the Board of Alderman, she voted for the ordinance that gave the developers the right to use Eminent Domain to purchase the property in question. At that time, Smith was working with Koman to develop the new Walgreens at Natural Bridge and Kingshighway and did not express to Koman or 19th Ward Alderman April Ford-Griffin any concerns about the use of Eminent Domain to purchase that property.
Smith has been joined by the Rev. Eugene Fowler and Solomon Rooks in protesting the current use of Eminent Domain to secure the MLK Plaza property. Ironically, with the support of Smith, Fowler previously was hired by Koman to work on the Walgreen’s site. A court hearing has been scheduled this Thursday. The EYE will update its readers on the progress of this dispute.