Section 7 Taking Solely for Economic Development Prohibited, Statute of Limitations in Redevelopment Cases, and Other Statutory Restrictions

• Library: Condemnation Practice 2009

In 2005, the United State Supreme Court decided Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, 545 U.S. 469 (2005). In Kelo, owners of condemned property, which was not blighted or in poor condition, challenged the city’s exercise of the power of eminent domain on the ground that the takings were not for a public use. The properties were sought in furtherance of a development plan that was designed to revitalize an economically distressed area and to increase the tax and other revenues of the city. The Court held that the city’s decision to take the property solely for the purpose of economic development served a “public purpose” and, therefore, satisfied the “public use” requirement of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 2006, in response to the public outcry against Kelo, the Missouri legislature...