When the government wants to take your property under Eminent Domain Laws, they can do so as long as the property they take is used for public purpose; roads, highways, etc. Or, they can take it to eliminate blight and economic development simply becomes a secondary outcome. Now let’s take a look at the definition of blight according to Webster:
a disease or injury of plants resulting in withering, cessation of growth, and death of parts
an organism that causes blight
something that frustrates plans or hopes
something that impairs or destroys
a deteriorated condition
So when we look at that definition and apply it to an area of a city, things that might come to mind are high crime rates, dilapidated buildings and unemployment. The government however, likes to use a more creative approach when defining blight.
Greed seems to be at the core of these “blight” occurrences. Cities want to increase profit and build more hotels, retail spaces and high priced condos. The increasing use of eminent domain for economic development (a taking for the benefit of businessmen/private developers) is unfortunately more and more common. So in order to take this property they come up with some unusual or more ridiculous ways of defining blight. Let’s take a look at some of those:
Wet leaves on a tennis court
Visible garbage cans on trash day
Architectural iron work seen as security bars
Inadequate street layout
Lack of electricity
I read an interesting scholarly quote, “blight is in the eye of the bureaucrat.” Is the government abusing its power by buying land and selling it to private contractors? We think so. Originally, the “public property” mentioned in the Fifth Amendment referred to property that would be beneficial to everyone, usually government buildings. The Constitution does not give the government the right to force people to leave their homes and then use the land their homes stood on to build a shopping mall, even if the homes are not in perfect condition. However, this is happening more and more often and it’s an issue all citizens should keep an eye on.