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Violating property rights

John Long
Long, a Roanoke Times columnist, is director of the Salem Museum and teaches history at Roanoke College.

I had thought about writing a Thanksgiving column expressing gratitude that we live in a free nation, but instead I’m wondering how true that is anymore. The plight of some property owners on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke should be of concern to us all.

A quick overview of the case: The mighty Carilion Clinic has ambitious plans for the area around Roanoke Memorial Hospital, an immense development complex that promises great benefit for the community. Over the past decade, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority has purchased virtually all the property in the area to pass on to Carilion. That is, all except one tract on Reserve owned by B&B Holdings and leased to a small flooring company. The housing authority really wants that thorn out of their side.

The Burkholders, owners of B&B Holdings, have reportedly turned down a $1 million offer for the land, hoping to get more. But the assessment on the two lots (if I read the city’s GIS Web page correctly) is $1,344,000. Would you sell your property for less than the assessment? Of course, ultimately any land is worth exactly what a buyer will pay and the owner will take, assuming the free market is allowed to work its magic.

Instead, in order to force the Burkholders off land they legally own and purchased in good faith, the housing authority has ruled the area “blighted,” though not necessarily the B&B lot itself. Really? The only thing I see blighted along South Jefferson Street is the forgotten wasteland that used to be Victory Stadium. But then, a blight designation anymore is less about cleaning up urban environments and more about a local government getting its way. The blight label will allow the land to be seized by eminent domain and turned over for redevelopment. Last week, a court ruled that the area had been properly deemed blighted, and so the tract could be condemned and sold by the housing authority.

I don’t know the Burkholders, and I have no problem with the Carilion development plans, which seem pretty impressive. But the the housing authority’s action smacks of tyranny to me, and the threat to private property rights should not be ignored.

The principle of eminent domain is a long-established one, allowing state, local, or federal government agencies to seize private property for public purposes, with fair compensation of the owner. The reason eminent domain is scaring a lot of people lately is the unpredictable expansion of government power through the 2005 Kelo decision. In that ruling, the Supreme Court decided “public use” included condemning property and turning it over to another owner who will end up paying more taxes on the land.

Nationwide, a shiver went up the spines of folks who recognize the importance of private-property rights. A government can now seize your property not because it needs to build a road or school, but because it thinks someone else will make better use of it.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in a dissent joined by Justices Rehnquist, Thomas and Scalia, seemed to predict exactly what’s happening down on Reserve: “Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”

Incidentally, the land seized by New London, Conn., after the Kelo case, land they hoped to turn into a cash cow of tax revenues, has apparently never been developed and has only cost the town money. The Pfizer Co. that was to solve all their local fiscal worries recently moved out.

Where does such government intrusion stop? For more than 200 years eminent domain has worked, not perfectly, but to the satisfaction of most. Now it threatens to invalidate the property rights of law-abiding citizens.

Property rights are a cornerstone of our American freedoms and a key to a prosperous nation. When local governments get away with Kelo-style land grabs, we are all victims. If Roanoke wants to acquire the Burkholders’ property, let them do it the old-fashioned way: Buy it fair and square.