Jackson Free Press

Members of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority fear an upcoming November ballot initiative to restrict the government's use of eminent domain to public projects such as bridge and roadway construction will hamper private redevelopment in the city's blighted areas.

The November ballot initiative will ask voters if state and local governments should be restricted from taking private property through eminent domain to transfer to "any person, non-governmental entity, public-private partnership, corporation, or other business entity."

Jackson Redevelopment Authority Board Member John Reeves said that if the initiative passes it would hurt future Jackson development especially blighted areas around Jackson State University. Right now If residents don't want to sell their blighted property, the city can take it, he said.

"If they don't want to sell and this thing passes, you just can't get (blighted properties). You'll have to take your development somewhere else," Reeves said.

The Jackson Redevelopment Authority discussed the issue at its meeting yesterday. The city department can use eminent domain to claim property, and expects the ballot initiative, if successful, to impact JRA's ongoing effort to obtain blighted real estate for redevelopment. Members say the eminent domain process is already complicated and typically settles property ownership issues through buyouts.

The Jackson Redevelopment Authority failed, for example, to claim the dilapidated King Edward Hotel through eminent domain for about 10 years, which held up re-development of the structure until recently.

"The Democrat and Republicans have sort of joined forces on this," Reeves told the board. "The Democrats say the poor are abused by gentrification, and the Republicans say the issue harps back to the founding fathers when you couldn't interfere with property rights."

Former Jackson State University President Ronald Mason, Jr. drew criticism in 2008 when he unsuccessfully proposed to Mississippi legislators a bill making it easier for the JSU Development Foundation to claim property for the school's expansion over a 50-acre area.

Later, at an April 2008 Washington Addition Neighborhood Association meeting, Mason called the bill submission "one of the biggest mistakes" he'd ever made.

Rep. Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, said he believed the ballot initiative would have little impact on development around JSU because eminent domain use for economic development is already difficult in Mississippi.

"The reason all this came to the fore was because of the Connecticut case," Snowden said, referring to a 2005 court case in which the city of New London sought to transfer private property to a developer to promote economic development.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of the city, prompting national outrage, and spurring state legislators annual submissions of bills seeking to strengthen state ownership laws--in addition to Mississippi's 2010 ballot initiative.

Snowden said Mississippi is not Connecticut, however.

"Every state is not as vulnerable as Connecticut was. I think our state Constitution is very protective of landowners," Snowden said. "I think under existing state law it is very difficult to take land for development."

Previous Comments

ID

161829

Comment

JRA is on the wrong side of this issue. Respect property rights. Period. Exclamation point!

Author

golden eagle

Date

2011-01-27T15:13:43-06:00