Downtown Strategy Is An Eminently Bad Idea

by ALEX LEKAS, Up & Coming Weekly, June 23 - 29, 2004

Imagine that you have owned a piece of property for years. You pay the taxes on it, manage the upkeep, and diligently work to increase its value. Now imagine that local or state government has found someone else who has a plan to significantly increase the value of that property, and as such, increase the property tax revenue that would be generated. Of course, government must first take the property away from you. They can't do that, you say? In fact, yes they can. It's called eminent domain, and among its next flashpoints may be downtown Fayetteville.

A group of local developers wants to build a retail and apartment complex on one block of Hay Street, along with an adjacent parking deck. To do it, however, would require individuals and businesses who have owned downtown property for decades to move out. Not all of them want to. Doesn't matter. That's where eminent domain comes in. It allows local government, the City of Fayetteville in this case, to forcibly buy land that would serve the public good, whatever that means. In the interest of good PR, however, officials would rather settle with property owners. I'm not in a position to tell you whether the proposed development is a good one or not. But, any plan that involves forcing people off their own land in pursuit of some nebulous "public good" strikes me as an example of how things that are legal aren't always right. Because this is a "process" issue, it's also one that sneaks below the public radar. It doesn't make for good pictures and requires some time to explain, so it's not good television and the typical newspaper reader's eyes will glaze over while reading about it. Still, it's fundamental to who we are, or who we claim to be, as a society. Regardless of what public good would be served by a multimillion dollar downtown development, it also stands to produce some private gain. Let's be honest, developers don't propose major projects if they don't expect to make a buck or two. There's nothing wrong with that concept, but when your property can be seized so another private individual or corporation can come in and make money, whose good is being served? The developers and the City should hammer out a deal with the property owners, and for fair market value. While eminent domain is based on serving the public good, this country was founded on the primacy of the individual and private property rights are the bedrock of that foundation. When that footing is weakened and government can come in and take what's yours, then property rights don't mean very much and a large chunk of the type of liberty we believe we have is also sliced away. Some of you will say this sounds alarmist, but it happens more often than you think. Cash-strapped communities are all too eager to clear out citizens to make way for the next superstore, the next office park, the next condo complex. It is entirely possible that serious negotiations will occur between the local landowners and those who want the property, and that fair compensation will be offered and accepted. That's what the free market system is all about. If someone wants something you own, they should have to make a fair and reasonable offer which you are then free to accept or reject, and that should be the end of it. Property that is blighted, dangerous, or abandoned by its owners is another matter, but that's what condemnation procedures are for.

If towns want to turn stately old homes into condos or bulldoze mom-and-pop shops to make way for office parks, forcing owners to sell is not the type of approach that makes anyone look good. Government looks heavy-handed, developers come across as greedy, and property owners become the latest members of the victim class. As the old saying goes, every man has his price, though this isn't about money. Some of the property owners have been invested in downtown for a long time; they've survived the slow period and want to benefit from a revival. There's nothing wrong with development; in fact, there is a lot that's right with it and few would disagree that Fayetteville needs more of it. But, how that's accomplished makes a much louder statement that any single project would.