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Thursday, October 06, 2005
Law- "Kelo" eminent domain decision to be tested in Philadelphia case
Law.com reports today:
In a case that promises to test the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial June decision in Kelo v. City of New London, the city of Philadelphia has been hit with a federal civil rights suit brought by landowners who claim the city illegally used its powers of eminent domain to take about four acres of land just to create a driveway for a new 11-acre FedEx facility.For the landowners -- the heirs of the late Morris Stein -- the federal suit is just the latest chapter in an ongoing battle that began in 2001 when the city's Redevelopment Authority condemned five parcels of land the family had owned since 1987.
The parcels of land, which are located near 36th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, are zoned "least restricted." At the time, the Stein family was using the land for several purposes, including storing mountains of rock salt and rental of a billboard. A portion of the land was also leased to Waste Management Inc.
When the RDA took the land, it offered less than $160,000 in compensation. The owners contested the amount and their case was heard by the city's Board of Viewers, a three-member panel that ultimately concluded that the landowners should be paid more than $1 million. Both the city and the landowners appealed that decision, and the dispute about the value of the land is set to go to trial before a jury on Oct. 28 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. * * *
But the Stein family isn't waiting for the outcome of the Oct. 28 trial. In a tactic that significantly raises the stakes, the family filed a federal civil rights suit last week that accuses the city and the RDA of violating its rights under the U.S. Constitution, alleging the condemnation of the land was illegal. * * *
The suit alleges that the RDA's taking of the land was illegal because it was done "solely to benefit" FedEx. It seeks an order requiring the city to return the land to Down Under.
At first blush, that allegation might seem to be at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kelo, which upheld the use of eminent domain to seize private property for economic development.
But in an interview, French said Kelo actually supports the Stein family's claim because the high court's 5-4 ruling upheld the taking of private property for another private use only when the decision is the result of a carefully developed economic plan.
In the majority opinion in Kelo, Justice John Paul Stevens found that the Fifth Amendment allows government to take private property for "public use," but that it is up to local governments, by and large, to define that term.
Ruling against the landowners, Stevens found that a city's carefully formulated economic development plan is entitled to deference -- even if it mainly benefits private entities.
In the Stein family's case, French said, there was no such plan in place. Instead, she said, the land was taken from them simply to benefit FedEx so that its trucks could enter and exit its new facility directly from Grays Ferry Avenue and not from 36th Street or Wharton Street.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 6, 2005 05:24 AM
Posted to General Law Related