Steelton to Use Eminent Domain to Further Redevelopment

by Timothy Sandefur

The town of Steelton, Pennsylvania, is going to condemn a car lot, a grocery store, and a bookstore for a multimillion dollar redevelopment project. But wait, you say, I thought Pennsylvania had passed one of the strongest eminent domain reform measures in the nation. Ah, but:

Following the [Kelo] ruling, Pennsylvania's General Assembly barred the use of eminent domain to convey unblighted property to a commercial developer.

But Steelton filed its eminent domain actions in court on Aug. 31, a day before the new law took effect–so…it does not apply.