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For a better Florida

Blight provokes a fight

By TAMARA LUSH
Published February 19, 2006

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last summer that a Connecticut town could take properties by eminent domain and bulldoze them for private development, lawmakers in Florida sprang to action.

House Speaker Allan Bense convened the Committee to Protect Private Property Rights. Rep. Everett Rice, R-Treasure Island, drew up a referendum on the matter. Sens. Dennis Jones, Mike Fasano and Evelyn Lynn filed a Senate version of Rice's referendum proposal.

Florida law technically doesn't allow for the Connecticut kind of private development-fueled property seizures. Florida is one of eight states where the use of eminent domain for economic development is prohibited unless it is to eliminate blight - often crime-ridden areas with dilapidated buildings.

But, as Rice points out: "Blight is a moving target. It can be anything you want it to be."

The Connecticut case was based on a suit filed by Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Conn. The residents filed the suit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes for a hotel, health club and offices.

New London officials argued that the private development served a public purpose of boosting economic growth, which outweighed the homeowners' property rights.

When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Connecticut officials, lawmakers in Florida worried: Could eminent domain for economic development happen in Florida?

The answer, lawmakers have discovered, is yes.

Across the state, city officials, working with developers, are in different stages of eminent domain proceedings - all under the goal of eliminating blight.

"Kelo was sort of the wake-up call," said Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. "We realized a lot of Kelo-type situations were occurring in the state of Florida."

Consider these cases around the state:

* In Daytona Beach, a judge ruled the city can use eminent domain to condemn three properties on its Boardwalk to make way for a $120-million condo-shopping-hotel complex to be built by a private developer.

* In Charlotte County, officials have condemned and taken 870 mostly vacant acres and want a developer to build homes and shops in the area.

* In Tampa, the City Council voted unanimously in January to begin eminent domain proceedings if necessary in a neglected part of Tampa Heights where a developer wants to build a 60-acre master-planned community with nearly 2,000 homes.

* In what may be the country's largest eminent domain proceeding, Riviera Beach officials declared a large swath of the city a "Community Redevelopment Area," placing the 5,100 residents within the area's borders at risk of condemnation.

In all of the Florida cases, according to Rice, local governments declared the targeted areas "blighted."

"Code enforcement and law enforcement can take care of slum and blight," said Rice. "We need tighter blight standards."

Kraig Conn, legislative counsel for the Florida League of Cities, said that the anti-eminent domain wave sweeping the Legislature this year is a "knee-jerk reaction" to the Kelo case.

"If Kelo had never happened, we would never be having these policy discussions," said Conn, whose group has proposed slight changes to the state's redevelopment statute. The proposals were not accepted by the House committee, said Conn.

"The mood of the Legislature . . . has been to really restrict the ability of local government to use eminent domain," said Conn.

He said that there is a perception among lawmakers that eminent domain is "running rampant" in Florida.

"In reality, that's so far from the truth," he said, adding that very few Community Redevelopment Agencies have actually taken properties under eminent domain.

The League wants cities to be able to use eminent domain as a tool to eliminate blight.

"For the most part, this is a tool that redevlopment entities in Florida have had since the 1970s," said Conn. "It's not being used in an improper manner."

Still, Rep. Rice wants to place a question on the 2006 ballot, asking voters to decide whether local governments should have the power to condemn homes for private development. The resolution would restrict the ability of local governments to use eminent domain to remove blight.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Private Property Rights has met several times since September 2005. It, too, is focusing on the definition of blight and whether Community Redevelopment Areas should face tighter guidelines.

Galvano, who is a land use lawyer, says he expects legislation to be passed this year. He doesn't anticipate any partisan fighting over the matter.

"We don't want to see any situation in Florida where property is taken solely for economic development," he said. "I think it will be a hot topic during the session, but I don't think this will be a controversial issue."

Tamara Lush can be reached at 727 893-8612 or at lush@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 17, 2006, 18:33:02]