Lawmakers and governor join rally against eminent domain

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday, demanding lawmakers make it harder to take private property through condemnation for redevelopment by others.

The crowd, which included a mix of people organized by The Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition, urged lawmakers to allow the taking of private property only for public uses, such as roads and utility lines.

The use of eminent domain by local governments and some private entities has garnered attention nationally following last summer's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that communities could condemn property and turn it over to private entities for developments to increase the tax base.

'Compelling reason'

Gov. Matt Blunt said property should only be taken under eminent domain for a "compelling public reason" such as for roads or public buildings.

"The idea that we can seize a small business, the government can seize a farm, the government can seize a house, that the government can even seize a church or a house of worship is repugnant," Blunt told the crowd.

Charles Kruse, the president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, said the protesters had come to "infuse a greater common-sense level in this building and around this state."

St. Louis resident Maxine Johnson said she came because eminent domain threatened her basic constitutional rights.

"Whether they offer you $1 or $1 million, it doesn't matter," she said. "It's your house, and you should have the choice of if you want to sell."

Johnson, 49, lives with her husband and six children in a house built in 1883 and has been resisting a townhouse development along with some of her neighbors since 2003. She said the state needed to get involved because municipal officials have used eminent domain to take private property and do what they wish.

"Why should people buy a house when other people can come in and take it 10, 15 years from now?" Johnson said.

Tax increment financing

The protest came the same day the Senate Economic Development Committee was hearing testimony on several bills to change the state's eminent domain and tax increment financing laws.

Tax increment financing allows local governments to declare certain areas eligible for development for tax breaks.

The use of both eminent domain and tax increment financing often involves local government declarations that an area is "blighted." But blight carries a fairly broad definition, including "dilapidation; obsolescence; deterioration; illegal use of individual structures; presence of structures below minimum code standards; abandonment; excessive vacancies; overcrowding of structures and community facilities; lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities; inadequate utilities; excessive land coverage; deleterious land use or layout; depreciation of physical maintenance; and lack of community planning."

Some lawmakers have said the Legislature needs to address both eminent domain and tax increment financing. Blunt has said he believes eminent domain concerns can be addressed separately from those about tax increment financing.

A special gubernatorial task force that studied eminent domain use recommended several changes -- all of which Blunt has endorsed. The task force suggested the state develop a higher standard of "blight" in eminent domain cases than exists for tax increment financing, but it did not recommend any specific definition.