High court pulls reins on eminent domain

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

I believe this is how G DUHbya got the land for the Texas Rangers stadium.

Arvada thwarted in move to take lake for Wal-Mart

By Alicia Caldwell
Denver Post Staff Writer

In a sharp rebuke to aggressive urban renewal authorities, the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday overturned Arvada's effort to condemn part of a lake for a Wal-Mart project.

The court said Arvada's urban renewal authority could not rely on a 1981 finding of blight to justify using eminent domain in an area that had been redeveloped since then.

"I think the court is sending a message to urban renewal authorities - you've gone too far," said Allan Hale, a Denver lawyer who specializes in eminent domain law. "The courts have not reined them in, until now."

-more-

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1990418,00.html

[Xithras]

1. Government does this all the time

A city near mine went through something similar recently. They had a turn of the century 4 story building, one of only a handful of old commercial buildings left in the city and the ONLY one still in original condition, sitting deserted on a prime lot downtown. A developer came in, bought the building, and announced that it would be renovated, brought up to modern code, and then used as a senior citizens assisted care home. The city, rather than embracing the offer to improve this eyesore, denied request after request to fix up the building, always moving the bar a little higher and finding new ways to deny the building permits. Finally, after years of haggling, the city condemned the building and started emminent domain proceedings. They claimed that the building was "blight" (ignoring the fact that they themselves had blocked its improvement) and forcefully took the building from the owner claiming that it was about to fall down. When the demolition company took the wrecking ball to it the next year, they stated that it was "one of the toughest and most well built buildings they'd ever seen".

Any guesses on what sits on that lot today? The new City Hall :grr: