Articles

by Timothy Sandefur The annual report on California's redevelopment agencies has been published, and it's available here. (It'll take a while to load; it's 696 pages long!) There are 422 redevelopment agencies in California, operating 760 redevelopment project areas. Redevelopment agencies received a total of $7.3 billion in funding ...

The Rio Rancho, NM city council has approved a resolution defending its authority to condemn property, in practice, whenever it feels like it. … ...

by Steven Geoffrey Gieseler My memory jogged by reading this post by Diana Hsieh, here's a Washington Times article from January on BB&T Corp.'s decision not to lend money for development projects that rely on private property taken via eminent domain. More on BB&T's stance here from the archives of the Volokh Conspiracy. … ...

Todd Zywicki has more on the Kelo settlement. … ...

Following in the footsteps of New Mexico and Arizona, Iowa has become the latest state to have its governor say no to protecting private property rights. … ...

by Timothy Sandefur The Palm Beach Post has this story on Riviera Beach, Fla., where PLF has filed a lawsuit to protect property owners against eminent domain. Among other gems in this article: • In 20 years, the community redevelopment agency, with the city council serving as its board, has hired and fired 10 directors … ...

MSNBC has this story on eminent domain reform attempts in North Carolina. Excerpt: The state's loophole is due to a clause about using eminent-domain powers for urban redevelopment of blighted areas, which are defined as areas where two-thirds of the properties are blighted. The statute says that in such cases, the entire area could be … ...

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has this article about eminent domain being threatened in Renton, Washington. For the past several months, Renton Mayor Kathy Keolker has been preparing to use Washington's Community Renewal Law to clear out the Renton Highlands. Adopted in 1957 during the "urban renewal" fad, the law authorizes cities t ...

El Diario (N.Y.) has this editorial on the weak eminent domain reform being offered by the New Jersey legislature: "The state Senate must correct these errors. The public wants true reform that will end eminent-domain abuses – not a watered-down bill that gives lawmakers political cover without dealing comprehensively with the issue. ...