on thrusday the supreme court made a ruling on a case from Connecticut where a town decided to apply the eminent domain constitutional amendment to the siezing of land by a city for private development. in my mind, eminent domain was intended to prevent private land owners from negatively impacting the community in which they own land by refusing to sell the land to the local, state or federal government. in my mind this land should only be used for public projects such as schools, highways or civic infrastructure.
this ruling leaves the door open for the development of shopping malls, office complexes and the like. compensation will still have to be made for the property, but how can you compensate someone who is having to leave the home that they have always lived in? it is now up to the state governments to pass laws limiting what can be done in this arena, but living in florida, i don't have all that much hope.
court decision.
cnn story about the original ruling.
some info about what this means to big-box retailers.