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New law limits use of eminent domain
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – The use of eminent domain, the forced procurement of personal property for private development, now is limited thanks to a house bill approved last month and recently signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush.
The legislation, HB 1567, eliminates the concerns of many residents regarding eminent domain issues.
Some Pinellas County municipalities already had gone on record against forced procurement of property for such things as private development of shopping malls, condominiums and office buildings.
The controversy was sparked last year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments can take property and turn it over to developers to increase local tax bases and create jobs.
The decision came out of a controversial New London, Conn., case that sent shockwaves throughout the country because it spotlighted how easy it was to lose homes and businesses.
Florida law, before HB 1567, allowed the seizure of land under eminent domain to eliminate blighted neighborhoods where redevelopment would be considered an asset.
Some Florida cities, such as Oldsmar and Riviera Beach, were considering using eminent domain to seize properties for new private development.
Many local officials, however, opposed seizures after a public outcry and promised that seizures would not occur in their communities.
Mayor Bill Mischler of Pinellas Park was among them. Other cities such as Madeira Beach restricts the purchase of property except by public referendum.
Eminent domain laws date back 200 years and allows seizure of property for highways, dams, schools and other public projects. The property owners, however, must be compensated the current value of the seized land.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that eminent domain can be applied to raze high crime blighted areas in the name of urban renewal.
A survey by the Institute of Justice said more than 10,000 cases of property condemnation were under consideration in different parts of the country earlier this year.
HB 1567 excludes private companies from using eminent domain for redevelopment. Property acquired by governments through eminent domain cannot be transferred for a minimum of five years,
So-called “slum areas” and “blighted areas” under the new state law in most cases cannot be bulldozed to make way for redevelopment. There are conditions, however, when an area can be considered blighted by a county or municipality, but they now weigh heavily in the property owner’s favor.
The new law emphasizes that the power of eminent domain may not be exercised by a community redevelopment agency. It also specifies that property can only be acquired by voluntary methods of acquisition.
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Article published on Wednesday, June 7, 2006
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