September 21, 2006
RALEIGH – A new public/private partnership could allow the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) to take its history of eminent domain abuse to a new level. That’s a key finding in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.
Click here to view and here to listen to Daren Bakst discussing this Spotlight report.
“TTA has abused its eminent domain power ever since it first started planning a commuter rail system,” said Daren Bakst, JLF Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst. “Even after it was clear TTA was not going to secure federal funding for the rail system, TTA continued to seize private property of Triangle residents.”
TTA is considering a public/private partnership with a commercial developer – Cherokee Investment Partners – to develop land it has taken for the rail system, Bakst said. The partnership could lead to housing, offices, stores, and other development that TTA hopes would boost population densities near proposed rail stations. Higher population density could make the project appear feasible to the feds.
The partnership could lead to even more eminent domain abuse, Bakst said. “In fact, TTA would have an incentive to seize additional property for development because TTA would share in the profits,” he said. “Plus there’s an even more chilling possibility. A private company – Cherokee – could use the TTA’s power of eminent domain to ‘negotiate’ the purchase of private property.”
North Carolina law is unclear about whether it is legal for TTA to seize property for economic development, under the guise of increasing population density, Bakst said. “The law states the property seized must be ‘useful’ for the purpose of public transportation,” Bakst said. “Are shopping malls and condominium developments ‘useful’ to public transportation because they might increase the number of passengers? The answer is unclear. However, it is clear the statute needs to be amended.”
Rather than use speculative goals to seize more private property, TTA should instead stop taking any more property, Bakst said. And it should make up for its past eminent domain abuses.
“TTA’s eminent-domain victims should be given the right to buy back their property at the price government paid to take it,” he said. “This price would be discounted by legal costs, interest, emotional harm, and relocation costs. For any property that does not return to the original owner, TTA should sell each parcel using a transparent bidding process.”
Daren Bakst’s Spotlight report, “Riding the Eminent Domain Rail: Triangle Transit Authority Is N.C.’s Case Study in Eminent Domain Abuse,” is available at the JLF web site. For more information, please contact Daren Bakst at (919) 828-3876 or [email protected]. To arrange an interview, contact Mitch Kokai at (919) 306-8736 or [email protected].