Category: default || By jt3y

It's not often that I find myself agreeing with Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia --- and believe me, I'm just sure they cry themselves to sleep at night --- but I did yesterday.

Along with Chief Justice William Rehnquist (another noted liberal) those justices were in the minority, dissenting with a ruling that local governments have a constitutional right to seize private property through eminent domain and turn it over to other private property owners.

Josef Stalin would be proud. Not to mention the fact that somewhere, Mulu Birru is smiling, since eminent domain was the Sword of Damocles that he and other Pittsburgh city officials held over property owners heads time and time again.

And Lord knows, Our Fair City had its share of "redevelopment" in the 1960s and '70s, which got us such architectural marvels as the Midtown Plaza Mall and the Executive Building.

It breaks down like this: Five years ago, the city of New London, Conn., approved a redevelopment plan for a waterfront neighborhood that would include upscale shopping, office buildings, and a hotel, along with a new U.S. Coast Guard Museum. The development would replace some abandoned industrial land along the Thames River.

But the local redevelopment authority and the city also decided to condemn a nearby neighborhood of private houses. Eminent domain laws require governments to pay fair market value for any property that's seized, but nine residents --- including one woman who has lived in the same house since she was born in 1918 --- refused to sell.

And then they sued, saying New London authorities were violating their Fifth Amendment rights. The Fifth Amendment says that private property may not be taken for public use without compensation. It doesn't say anything about taking private property for private use, which a shopping development arguably is.

The case wound its way through state courts in Connecticut before landing at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority (PDF file), cites case law back to the mid-19th century that ruled that "public use" can be interpreted very broadly: "Promoting economic development is a traditional and long accepted function of government," he writes. "There is, moreover, no principled way of distinguishing economic development from the other public purposes that we have recognized," like public transportation projects, for example.

In their dissent, the other four justices call the majority decision "troubled" and "flawed." "If it is true that incidental public benefits from new private use are enough to ensure the public purpose ... why should it matter, as far as the Fifth Amendment is concerned, what inspired the taking in the first place?" writes O'Connor.

No matter what reason is given, she writes, the effect is the same: "Private property is forcibly relinquished to new private ownership."

The beneficiaries of this ruling, O'Connor says, are likely to be "those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms." (Sandra Day O'Connor: Closet liberal and Nation reader?)

O'Connor also questions the wisdom of allowing government officials to decide the "best use" of already developed property: "Who among us can say she already makes the most productive or attractive possible use of her property? The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."

Indeed. It's bad enough in the Mon-Yough area that the Turnpike Commission is about to take hundreds of properties in the name of building a highway that will enable people to zip more quickly Downtown from their McMansions in Washington County.

Now, we have to worry about borough council or the township commissioners coming along, looking at our '60s split-level with the Steelers flag on the porch and the dead grass in the front yard, and saying, "You know what would look good right here? A Starbucks."

The only bright spot is that Stevens and the majority leave the door open for the state legislatures to put the brakes on this kind of foolishness: "Nothing in our opinion," he writes, "precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power. Indeed, many States already impose 'public use' requirements that are stricter than the federal baseline."

There's a slim ray of hope in those comments, I guess. Personally, I can't wait for the day that the Pennsylvania General Assembly decides to voluntarily give up some of its power. I also can't wait for the Pirates to win another World Series. In either case, I'm not holding my breath.

...

Speaking of economic development of dubious potential, business owners in Pitcairn are planning to fight back against a proposed Wal-Mart near the intersections of Routes 48 and 130 in Monroeville, writes Bill Heltzel in the Post-Gazette.

(Pharmacist Phil Arlia) counted 29 independent drugstores from Braddock to Irwin, when he opened in 1969. Now he's the only independent left. "The largest retailer in the world moving in a half-mile up the road, how can it not hurt you?" asked Arlia. "Notice, I didn't say we'll go out of business."

He has adapted as chain stores opened. He still stocks convenience items but no longer carries entire lines of deodorant, hair coloring or Timex watches. Instead, he concentrates on personal service, quick delivery, next-day special orders and credit.

He is hopeful that PennDOT and Monroeville will not "create a monster" by giving Wal-Mart the permits it needs, but he is prepared to fight.

"This is going to be fun," he said. "It's a challenge. The big boy on the block thinks he can come into a small town and stomp them. We'll see."

I'm rooting for Phil, but once again, I think I won't hold my breath. Personal service and customer loyalty in America seems to extend right up until the point that people can save 19 cents on a bottle of generic aspirin. I hope the people of Pitcairn have a better sense of self-preservation.

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Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime, summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime ... etc. What better way to catch some rays this summer than in our new Tube City Online "Rainbow Gardens Lifeguard" T-shirt? Just please don't impersonate a real lifeguard.

On the other hand, you could put some zinc oxide on your nose and strap a silver whistle on your neck, and then go out to Oak Park Mall and yell "Everybody out of the pool!" What the heck: Annoy your friends and neighbors!

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To Do This Weekend: Holy Angels Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 Caldwell Ave., Wilmerding hosts an organ concert at 7 p.m. Saturday by Rev. Stephen Folkemer and tenor William Fisher that features the church's new organ. Admission requires a donation of a non-perishable item to the Wilmerding Food Pantry. ... Stewartsville Lions Club holds a chicken barbecue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Norwin Towne Square shopping center, Route 30 at Lincoln Way, North Huntingdon Township. ... Sinatra impersonator Bo Wagner headlines a concert at the Renziehausen Park band shell, Eden Park Boulevard near Tulip Drive, called "Let's Be Frank," 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.