Kathianne
02-11-2008, 08:27 PM
Eminent domain further run amok? Thomas proven correct in his dissent, the poor pay?
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/current/articles/spring2008/eminent-domain.html
Eminent Domain: Properties, Principles, and Strange Bedfellows
Evan Daar....
Are we now seeing the consequences of the Kelo decision play out in Manhattanville? Has it become easier for private institutions like Columbia to team up with local governments and condemn property in the name of "economic development"? In a dissent to the Kelo decision, one Justice sounded an ominous warning about these potential consequences:
Extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities. Those communities are not only systematically less likely to put their lands to the highest and best social use, but are also the least politically powerful.
It may surprise some readers that these are the words of Justice Clarence Thomas—whose conservatism is often characterized by critics as callous or unsympathetic.
Justice Thomas's words ring especially true in the context of Manhattanville. It is certainly likely that Columbia's Manhattanville campus will benefit the public with more research, more jobs and a broader tax base for the city. But does this excuse the condemnation of land in the area? Thomas was warning of just this situation: Columbia, a politically powerful institution, using its connections to overstep Manhattanville small business owners, who have few connections in City Hall or Albany, and who may not put their property to the "highest and best social use."
In 2007, the Institute for Justice—a Washington, DC public interest law firm specializing in property rights and eminent domain cases—commissioned a study to assess Thomas's predictions about the disproportionate impact that Kelo would have on the poor. The study's authors examined the economic and demographic conditions of more than 150 communities that had been threatened with the use of eminent domain for private development purposes. Also examined were surrounding neighborhoods not threatened with the use of eminent domain.
A schematic model prepared by Columbia to demonstrate its plans for developing the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem.
The study found that Thomas was largely correct. In targeted areas, 58% of residents were minorities, compared to 45% in the surrounding community. The median income of targeted areas was less than $19,000, compared to $23,000 in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, 25% of residents living in these targeted areas live at or below the poverty line, compared with 16% in the surrounding areas.
These data confirm Thomas's fears that poor, minority neighborhoods are disproportionately the victims of eminent domain use.
***
Might Manhattanville be the next victim of eminent domain abuse?
In the debate at Columbia over expansion into Manhattanville, two sub-fights within the larger eminent domain controversy are particularly important: First, whether Manhattanville is a "blighted" area. And second, what kind of compensation the landowners would receive if eminent domain were to be used by New York State.
In October 2006, New York State officials confirmed that they would begin an assessment of the Manhattanville neighborhood that could result in a designation of "blight." If Manhattanville were determined to be "blighted," it will open the door for the Empire State Development Corporation to condemn the land and transfer it to Columbia. (If the University were to do this, it would be relying less on the language in Kelo than on the language in Berman vs. Parker, which allowed for the transfer of private property to get rid of "blight.")
Such designations of "blight" are a main tool used by state governments to condemn land for private development. The Manhattanville case is only one example, but it illustrates a national phenomenon. Local and state governments, in cooperation with politically powerful private groups, target areas for redevelopment, and use political muscle to declare an area "blighted" and seize its land.
There are a number of problems with declaring an area "blighted." First, the definition of blight is vague in most states, giving the government wide latitude in making such a declaration. In California, for instance, factors that may make an area blighted include: "substandard design, inadequate size given present standards and market conditions, [or] lack of parking."
Furthermore, it is the government—or an agency of the government, like New York's ESDC—that retains the power to declare an area "blighted." Once that designation is official, property owners in the "blighted" area have a hard time reversing that decision. And in most states, a "blight" designation lasts indefinitely, meaning that the government forever retains the ability to use eminent domain, even if the area's conditions improve.
In theory, there are supposed to be checks and balances when it comes to declaring an area "blighted." The main check is the ability of property owners to challenge the designation in court. But reversing a designation in court is very difficult. Importantly, courts are by and large deferent to the decision of the local government. Even the Supreme Court in Kelo ruled that New London's "determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to our deference." This kind of deference has been shown by state and federal judges across the country—and now, since Kelo, it comes with the imprimatur of the Supreme Court.
It is unclear how the situation in Manhattanville will play out. We do not know whether the ESDC will determine that the area is "blighted," and in any case the ESDC's decision will be hard to fully comprehend and judge. Understanding the wide latitude given to local governments in declaring an area blighted, as well as the courts' deference to such declarations, should cause us to be skeptical of a "blight" designation in Manhattanville.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/current/articles/spring2008/eminent-domain.html
Eminent Domain: Properties, Principles, and Strange Bedfellows
Evan Daar....
Are we now seeing the consequences of the Kelo decision play out in Manhattanville? Has it become easier for private institutions like Columbia to team up with local governments and condemn property in the name of "economic development"? In a dissent to the Kelo decision, one Justice sounded an ominous warning about these potential consequences:
Extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities. Those communities are not only systematically less likely to put their lands to the highest and best social use, but are also the least politically powerful.
It may surprise some readers that these are the words of Justice Clarence Thomas—whose conservatism is often characterized by critics as callous or unsympathetic.
Justice Thomas's words ring especially true in the context of Manhattanville. It is certainly likely that Columbia's Manhattanville campus will benefit the public with more research, more jobs and a broader tax base for the city. But does this excuse the condemnation of land in the area? Thomas was warning of just this situation: Columbia, a politically powerful institution, using its connections to overstep Manhattanville small business owners, who have few connections in City Hall or Albany, and who may not put their property to the "highest and best social use."
In 2007, the Institute for Justice—a Washington, DC public interest law firm specializing in property rights and eminent domain cases—commissioned a study to assess Thomas's predictions about the disproportionate impact that Kelo would have on the poor. The study's authors examined the economic and demographic conditions of more than 150 communities that had been threatened with the use of eminent domain for private development purposes. Also examined were surrounding neighborhoods not threatened with the use of eminent domain.
A schematic model prepared by Columbia to demonstrate its plans for developing the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem.
The study found that Thomas was largely correct. In targeted areas, 58% of residents were minorities, compared to 45% in the surrounding community. The median income of targeted areas was less than $19,000, compared to $23,000 in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, 25% of residents living in these targeted areas live at or below the poverty line, compared with 16% in the surrounding areas.
These data confirm Thomas's fears that poor, minority neighborhoods are disproportionately the victims of eminent domain use.
***
Might Manhattanville be the next victim of eminent domain abuse?
In the debate at Columbia over expansion into Manhattanville, two sub-fights within the larger eminent domain controversy are particularly important: First, whether Manhattanville is a "blighted" area. And second, what kind of compensation the landowners would receive if eminent domain were to be used by New York State.
In October 2006, New York State officials confirmed that they would begin an assessment of the Manhattanville neighborhood that could result in a designation of "blight." If Manhattanville were determined to be "blighted," it will open the door for the Empire State Development Corporation to condemn the land and transfer it to Columbia. (If the University were to do this, it would be relying less on the language in Kelo than on the language in Berman vs. Parker, which allowed for the transfer of private property to get rid of "blight.")
Such designations of "blight" are a main tool used by state governments to condemn land for private development. The Manhattanville case is only one example, but it illustrates a national phenomenon. Local and state governments, in cooperation with politically powerful private groups, target areas for redevelopment, and use political muscle to declare an area "blighted" and seize its land.
There are a number of problems with declaring an area "blighted." First, the definition of blight is vague in most states, giving the government wide latitude in making such a declaration. In California, for instance, factors that may make an area blighted include: "substandard design, inadequate size given present standards and market conditions, [or] lack of parking."
Furthermore, it is the government—or an agency of the government, like New York's ESDC—that retains the power to declare an area "blighted." Once that designation is official, property owners in the "blighted" area have a hard time reversing that decision. And in most states, a "blight" designation lasts indefinitely, meaning that the government forever retains the ability to use eminent domain, even if the area's conditions improve.
In theory, there are supposed to be checks and balances when it comes to declaring an area "blighted." The main check is the ability of property owners to challenge the designation in court. But reversing a designation in court is very difficult. Importantly, courts are by and large deferent to the decision of the local government. Even the Supreme Court in Kelo ruled that New London's "determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to our deference." This kind of deference has been shown by state and federal judges across the country—and now, since Kelo, it comes with the imprimatur of the Supreme Court.
It is unclear how the situation in Manhattanville will play out. We do not know whether the ESDC will determine that the area is "blighted," and in any case the ESDC's decision will be hard to fully comprehend and judge. Understanding the wide latitude given to local governments in declaring an area blighted, as well as the courts' deference to such declarations, should cause us to be skeptical of a "blight" designation in Manhattanville.