Next Monday is the third anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London. That decision expanded the government?s right to seize land for “public use” ? making economic development a legitimate reason to take private property.
The decision sparked a flurry of legislative action around the country by elected officials keen to restrict state government from seizing private land in the name of economic revitalization. Forty-two states passed laws making it harder to take land from private citizens like Susette Kelo, whose pink cottage in New London, Conn., was seized by the government and plowed over to make room for a mixed-use development by a politically connected developer.
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Maryland passed a toothless law that does nothing to curb the government from seizing private property for redevelopment.
But it still can ? and should. Eminent domain should be used rarely. Some would argue all law flows from private property rights. Regardless, if you take them away, or severely weaken them by abusing eminent domain, citizens become all but powerless against the government.
There are so many local examples we can?t name them all. And Baltimore City, prior to a 2007 Court of Appeals decision, regularly used an even more draconian offshoot of eminent domain ? quick take ? to seize properties immediately for projects the city might want to develop.
George Valsamaki, who owned a bar on North Charles Street seized through quick take, fought the city and won. But you should not have to go to court to defend what common sense and the rule of law make clear.
This is not to say we do not value economic development.We?re thrilled the Inner Harbor draws millions of tourists, and that portions of West and East Baltimore, including the new biotech park at Johns Hopkins, will transform once drug-ridden, decrepit and dangerous parts of the city into retail, cultural and intellectual beacons.
But nowhere in the U.S. Constitution or in the Maryland Constitution does it say it should be easy for the government to hand over huge tracts of land to preferred developers. Besides, seizing property rarely draws community support, a key element in successful projects. And contrary to what critics allege, a comprehensive pre- and post-Kelo review of state economies by the Institute for Justice, the nonprofit legal foundation that defended Kelo, found even the most restrictive eminent domain laws did not dampen growth.
Last week members of the Delaware General Assembly passed legislation to strictly limit eminent domain to its original intent, government projects like schools and roads, and prohibits it being used for private economic development.
Members of the Maryland General Assembly should follow their Delaware colleagues? lead by passing similar legislation when they return next year. Cities and counties have many tools to redevelop blighted areas, including lowering property taxes. That is one reform, especially in high-tax Baltimore City, that would boost population and economic growth and truly serve a “public use.”
