Public Use/Kelo Round Up

Several items today with a common theme of eminent domain and public use -

• PropertyProf Blog posts a link to Professor Richard Epstein's latest article, "Public Use in a Post-Kelo World."  I agree with Professor Barros' recommendation: "Given the author, obviously a must-read for anyone interested in public use issues."

• The Honolulu Advertiser's Sean Hao details the issues when takings for Honolulu's proposed +$4B rail transit project runs into a unique "old Hawaii" neighborhood in "Pearl City's Banana Patch at risk."  A neighborhood without city water, street lights, or sidewalks (but a community nonetheless) is slated for removal for a "park and ride."

• From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch comes "Owner of land in redevelopment path anxious, some suing to be paid" about how a group of owners have been waiting more than a year to be paid for their properties which were taken for redevelopment.

• Thanks to Castle Watch Daily for cheekily pointing out that the web site of the New London Development Corporation, the entity at the heart of the infamous Kelo case, is "Under Construction."  The web site might be, but the project sure isn't.