December 29, 2008
Pennsylvania Law Weekly
A Stricter Standard for Taking
An en banc panel of the Commonwealth Court has distinguished Pennsylvania law from a landmark 2005 U.S. Supreme Court opinion by ruling that condemnation and eminent domain may not be used "for purely economic development."   More

December 28, 2008
Houston Chronicle
Tiny bit of land triggers big fight over city powers

When finished, the .09-acre patch of land near the Galleria will be the city's smallest park....What will the new "pocket park" be used for? That's hard to say. The city has yet to draw up any plans for the land at the corner of Post Oak Lane and San Felipe.

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December 26, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Mediation due over beachfront properties
A Superior Court judge has set aside two potential dates in January to meet with both sides in the Long Branch eminent domain case in which the city sought to take oceanfront property for redevelopment, only to encounter an entrenched opposition from some property owners.   More

December 19, 2008
The New York Times
State Officials Approve Expansion by Columbia
Columbia University cleared a major hurdle on Thursday in its effort to expand its campus into Manhattanville when state officials voted to approve the project, opening the door for the use of eminent domain to allow the university to acquire land from holdout owners.   More

December 18, 2008
The Atlanticville
Residents seek limits on eminent domain in city
A group of Long Branch residents are calling on the City Council to move forward with an ordinance that will restrict eminent domain from being used to transfer private property to private developers.   More

December 14, 2008
Daily Record
Selling out, leaving town along Morristown's Speedwell Avenue
John Galgano isn't happy he has to sell his Clinton Place townhouse to developers to make room for a redevelopment of Speedwell Avenue.  But Galgano, like many others, have resigned themselves to what they feel is the inevitable.   More

December 13, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Eminent domain still very contested
Both sides continue to express optimism in Long Branch's efforts to settle a long-standing eminent domain lawsuit being fought by homeowners in the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, Seaview Avenue area.   More

December 12, 2008
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Eminent domain land bid on hold

The St. Paul Port Authority's plan to redevelop privately owned land on the East Side along Jackson Street has been put on hold. The City Council recently delayed for six months voting on the Port Authority's proposal to use eminent domain for land owned by Advance Shoring...

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December 8, 2008
Maryland Daily Record
Opponents of condemnation in Baltimore say power is widely abused
In Maryland, as in many parts of the country, the discussion over eminent domain, or the government’s power to condemn and seize private property in the name of “public purpose,” is mainly a legal debate rather than a policy one. The issue, after all, touches on one of the U.S. Constitution’s most fundamental rights...   More

December 8, 2008
The Weekly Standard
Columbia University, Slumlord
Nick Sprayregen stands on the corner of 130th and Broadway pointing out the disarray. What was once a neighborhood gas station is now abandoned, its yard closed off by a chain-link fence topped with a spiral of razor wire. Inside the fence, debris is casually strewn about.   More

December 7, 2008
The Day
Fort Trumbull Plan Remains In Place - For Now
To critics and supporters alike, the document that spells out the vision for what Fort Trumbull would become has been held up as THE plan, gospel blueprint of what the peninsula just beyond downtown would look like.  But 10 years after it was drafted, the document - called the Municipal Development Plan, or MDP - appears less a “definite” and more a “maybe.”
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December 4, 2008
Maryland Daily Record
In Baltimore, condemnation drives urban renewal
Despite several recent court cases and laws that check the powers of municipalities to take property, condemnations are accelerating in the city: More than $22 million in eminent domain seizures have been authorized this year, up nearly 250 percent from 2007...   More

December 2, 2008
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Baldwin Park Seeks Downtown Alternatives
City officials spent more than a year pushing for a redevelopment project that promised to transform the downtown area into a bustling neighborhood of condominiums and retailers. A group of small business owners spent just as long fighting it.   More

November 30, 2008
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Editorial: Eminent Domain
At any rate, arguing that a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution should be ignored for two years because it might cause "problems" for government agencies is the height of imperial arrogance and simply outrageous.   More

November 28, 2008
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Richmond Heights won't give Hadley developer extension on buyouts
In a move that startled residents and the developer alike, the Richmond Heights City Council on Friday refused to grant a one-year extension to obtain financing for the Hadley Township project.   More

November 26, 2008
Minneapolis Star Tribune
St. Paul to try soft touch to take land
The St. Paul Port Authority is suspending its effort to seize land from a longtime North End business in favor of trying to negotiate a deal with the company.   More

November 25, 2008
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Eminent domain limits become part of state constitution
A district judge refused today to stop enforcement of the state’s new eminent domain constitutional amendment.   More

November 21, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Mayor: Eminent domain off table in Long Branch
After nearly five years of exchanging hostilities in the battle over what some people perceived as the abuse of the power of eminent domain, Mayor Adam Schneider and activist Lori Ann Vendetti moved Thursday toward bringing closure to the dispute.   More

November 20, 2008
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Developer pulls out of Baldwin Park downtown project
City officials say Bisno Development Co. is pulling out of a contentious, multimillion-dollar plan to revitalize more than 100 acres of downtown, citing the economic downturn.   More

November 20, 2008
Clarksville Online
Justice Department, HUD, hear citizen concerns on development, urban renewal
About 70 concerned citizens participated in a fact-finding forum Thursday to discuss still-lingering concerns about the Clarksville Center Redevelopment Plan.   More

November 20, 2008
The Atlanticville
Eminent domain shattering couple's American dream
For the past 13-plus years, my husband and I have raised our three daughters in our Long Branch, beachfront home. Our American dream, however, has turned into an American nightmare at the hands of government run amok, and tragically, similar abuses of power are going on statewide.   More

November 19, 2008
Asbury Park Press
In Long Branch, eminent domain battle continues
Like too many other people across New Jersey, I am fighting to keep my home. No, it isn't because of the mortgage mess. It is something far more intentional on the part of the government.   More

November 18, 2008
The Leaf-Chronicle
Federal officials to attend redevelopment forum
Federal officials will be in town this week to learn about the Clarksville Center Redevelopment Plan....[R]epresentatives from the NAACP, Clarksville Property Rights Coalition and the Institute for Justice — a national advocacy group supporting the CPRC — will attend the meeting.   More

November 18, 2008
Las Vegas Review-Journal
RTC joins PISTOL lawsuit
The Regional Transportation Commission has joined a lawsuit to halt a state constitutional amendment designed to restrict the government's use of eminent domain laws to take private lands.   More

November 18, 2008
Akron Beacon-Journal
Renewal plan angers some
Akron City Council members were under the impression no one was upset about a renewal plan for the Firestone Park neighborhood that involved the city acquiring several properties — possibly through eminent domain.   More

November 17, 2008
The Star-Ledger
Public Advocate: Redevelopment law needs to be revamped
New Jersey's outdated redevelopment laws need to be changed to better protect and adequately compensate low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters displaced by municipal redevelopment projects, the state public advocate said today.   More

November 17, 2008
The Pueblo Chieftain
Condemning a landmark?
Judy Patti and her sons Aaron and Chris greet customers at Patti's Restaurant with a down-home familiarity that comes with more than 70 years in business.  For the most part, her customers return the favor. But lately, Mrs. Patti said, they've been upset about the possible fate of the landmark eatery.   More

November 11, 2008
Asbury Park Press
City's legal woes not easily settled
City Councilman Brian A. Unger said Friday he was talking with some of the people active in the anti-eminent domain fight being waged by the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue (MTOTSA) area, and they say they are willing to negotiate with the city over its potential liability for court costs and legal fees.   More

November 10, 2008
Associated Press
Toubled half-century of urban renewal in SF
A half-century ago, this neighborhood was nicknamed "Harlem of the West" and hundreds of black-owned businesses thrived...Then the government, using race as a factor in its decision, decreed the area blighted and forced thousands of people, including King, from the neighborhood by way of eminent domain.    More

November 8, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Forswear eminent domain
With the state Supreme Court announcing Thursday it would not hear appeals from either the homeowners or the city in Long Branch's eminent domain battle, both sides should finally sit down and work out an agreement. But first, Mayor Adam Schneider should commit to taking eminent domain off the table permanently.   More

November 6, 2008
The Atlanticville
BFS asks to be freed from blight zone
The City Council has finalized an agreement to terminate a redevelopment agreement for the Beachfront South area, but residents of the area want the city to take one more step.   More

November 6, 2008
The Star-Ledger
State high court declines to hear Long Branch development spat
The state Supreme Court has declined to hear the spat between a group of Long Branch homeowners and the city about its use of eminent domain for a massive oceanfront redevelopment project, dashing hopes for greater clarification of the controversial land-use policy.   More

November 4, 2008
KVVU-TV (Las Vegas)
Law Limits State, City Ability To Take Land
Question No. 2. dealt with the restriction of eminent domain. Under the new law, state and city governments can only take possession of private land for real public use, such as roads and schools -- not casinos.   More

October 31, 2008
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Trust and condemnation
Residents of North Long Beach, worried that some of their homes might be condemned for redevelopment projects, are giving City Hall a tough time. Rightfully so.   More

October 30, 2008
The Daily Politics Blog
Using The Crisis To Fight Willets Point Plan
Opponents of the Bloomberg administration's plan to redevelop Willets Point are trying to use the economic crisis to their advantage, arguing that the city shouldn't be spending taxpayer dollars on the project at a time when services are being cut and tax increases are under consideration.   More

October 29, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Council vote ends pact with builder
In what was possibly the softest moment in the long-running eminent domain controversy, the City Council Tuesday night quietly voted to terminate its 2005 agreement with K. Hovnanian to redevelop Beachfront South.   More

October 29, 2008
Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle
Marina plans move forward
Though negotiations with the Clarksville Jaycees are continuing, the Clarksville City Council took the first step Tuesday toward condemning the group's building at Fairgrounds Park to make way for the planned marina.   More

October 28, 2008
Contra Costa Times
Eminent domain concerns residents
"What I've certainly never heard of any city doing is requiring people to allow interior inspections of their home in order to avoid having it taken by private development," said Dana Berliner, an attorney with the Institute for Justice.   More

October 27, 2008
The Indypendent
City Carves Up E. 125th St. for Developers
Seven-and-a-half acres of East Harlem have become the latest battleground between local residents and city officials over gentrification of Harlem’s main street.   More

October 23, 2008
Suburban Journals
Valley Park restricts eminent domain to public purposes
Dozens of Valley Park residents listened to a city discussion Monday, Oct. 20, regarding eminent domain and blight.  By a vote of 5-3, the Valley Park Board of Aldermen approved final reading of legislation that will limit the city's use of eminent domain to public purposes only, banning its use for private gain.   More

October 23, 2008
Queens Tribune
Council Tackles Willets Point Plan
Buried under headlines about term limits, the story at Willets Point continues to develop. The mayor’s controversial proposal to remake the 62 acres of the Iron Triangle finally hit the City Council...   More

October 23, 2008
The Atlanticville
Eminent domain will not be used in BFS
It has been described as a dark cloud looming over a Long Branch beachfront neighborhood, but now with eminent domain off the table, some Beachfront South residents say they are hopeful that they can work with the city on future plans for their neighborhood.   More

October 19, 2008
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Richmond Heights faces decision on development
JoAnn Bailey can't hide her frustration. After almost two years of waiting for a developer to make good on a promise to purchase her property on Banneker Avenue, the Hadley Township neighborhood mother, grandmother and great-grandmother says she has had enough.   More

October 17, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Eminent domain: Slam door shut
Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider says he is ready to pull the threat of eminent domain off the table for residents of Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue. It's about time. Five years is long enough.   More

October 17, 2008
Minneapolis Star Tribune
In St. Paul, an abuse of eminent domain
The St. Paul Port Authority wants to take my company’s property by eminent domain and kick my nearly 50-year-old family run business out of St. Paul. It is using a bogus environmental claim as an excuse to give my property to some yet-to-be-determined private developer.   More

October 17, 2008
The Star-Ledger
Judge: Union area not blighted
A judge in Superior Court in Union County ruled yesterday that a 20-block swath of Union Township's business district is not blighted and does not qualify as a redevelopment zone.   More

October 16, 2008
St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul business might get the boot, but not without fight
The business started by Karen Haug's father helped build St. Paul's skyline. Now, Haug has come across a construction project she wants no part of: the redevelopment of her property by the St. Paul Port Authority.    More

October 15, 2008
St. Paul Pioneer Press
At the edge of a public fight for private property
The St. Paul Port Authority, tasked with bringing business into St. Paul, is kicking out a profitable, tax-paying, unsubsidized, woman-owned, 48-year-old family business.    More

October 14, 2008
Associated Press
Brooklyn arena plagued by poor economy
Bruce Ratner's $4 billion dream for a new Brooklyn will have to wait, at least until next year. The New Jersey Nets owner and developer has been plagued by a string of problems that have delayed his plans for a new NBA arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn.   More

October 14, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Long Branch, developer sever deal
Adam Schneider, the mayor whose enemies have derisively dubbed him the "poster child for eminent domain abuse," promised Monday that his administration would not employ the controversial power in any future redevelopment plan for Beachfront South.   More

October 13, 2008
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Voters favor eminent domain limits
Likely voters by nearly a 3-to-1 margin favor passing a state constitutional amendment in November that would prevent governments from using the power of eminent domain to seize private property and then turn it over to developers, a Review-Journal poll shows.   More

October 13, 2008
Columbia Spectator
Columbia, ESDC Face Several Lawsuits
Columbia’s campus expansion in Manhattanville has spurred urban planning, protest marches, and now a flurry of lawsuits.    More

October 7, 2008
Crain's New York Business
City taps developers for E. Harlem project; Troubled company among group of seven in $700 million effort
A group of seven organizations, including General Growth Properties, was selected on Tuesday to develop a $700 million, 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-used project on East 125th Street.   More

October 7, 2008
Columbia Spectator
Singh Family Gas Station Continues Holdout
The Singhs won’t budge. As Kaur explained, ever since they moved to the United States from India in the early eighties, their businesses have been their way “to live the American Dream.”   More