Eminent Domain: proposed Massena grab benefitting Wal*Mart DROPPED

This case is an interesting one. Even before their planned February 15 public hearing on the subject, the Massena town board and St Lawrence county officials were announcing that the plan to use Eminent Domain to grab a portion of the Saint Lawrence Centre mall was off. They had been planning to do this so that the owners of the Saint Lawrence Centre--the Carlyle Development Group of White Plains--could sell the land to Wal*Mart to build a supercenter. What's wrong with a private company selling property to another private company, you ask? Well, according to News10, one of the Saint Lawrence Centre tenants, Hannaford's Grocery, has a contract that says no other grocery store would be permitted on mall property.

The local officials are doing the right thing. If Wal*Mart wants that supercenter built badly enough, they can buy out Hannaford's on the free market. There is no possible justification to use "condemnation" (on a thriving property, no less) to break a contract in favor of a different private entity or non-emergency use.

bonnie on 02.16.06 @ 09:43 AM ET [link] [No Comments]