Eminent Domain

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to introduce emergency legislation Wednesday that would give the state authority to acquire Maryland's bankrupt horse racing tracks and the Preakness through eminent domain, officials confirmed. However, legal experts say the bankruptcy filing by the tracks' owner could prevent the state from exercising that power. Debate on the bill, which has the backing of the General Assembly's presiding officers, could begin as soon as Thursday afternoon in a joint hearing of Senate and House of Delegates lawmakers.

In a decision likely to force Baltimore to rethink its economic development strategy, Maryland's highest court ruled yesterday that the city cannot continue using eminent domain to "run roughshod over the owners of private property." The state Court of Appeals, in a blunt opinion that harshly criticized the city's favored property seizure technique, found Baltimore had no good reason to take a Charles North bar called The Magnet last year with a sped-up version of eminent domain called "quick take."

Bill would curtail property seizures I am sponsoring the Property Protection Act of 2007 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 ruling in Kelo vs. the City of New London, Conn. During the 2006 session, I sponsored similar legislation, which was approved unanimously by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. The Kelo decision expanded government's power to take private property for economic development, which the Court saw as benefiting the public good. Before the Kelo decision, government's eminent domain powers were exercised for public uses.

Baltimore's plans to condemn 90 homes in the city's Wagner's Point area moved one step closer to happening yesterday with the initial backing of the city Board of Estimates.The five-member panel, which includes Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and approves all city spending, voted 4-0 to support a City Council bill that would authorize taking the homes by negotiated settlement or eminent domain. Board chairman Lawrence A. Bell III, president of the City Council, abstained.Since last spring, Wagner's Point residents, worried about pollution and a series of cancer cases in the South Baltimore neighborhood, have asked the government and the petrochemical plants on their Fairfield peninsula to jointly negotiate and finance a relocation of their homes.

Tiny Wagner's Point could be condemned as early as April 1 under a compromise proposal expected to be passed by the City Council tonight.During a 25-minute meeting Friday morning -- hastily organized by the Schmoke administration's council liaison -- City Solicitor Otho M. Thompson and four City Council members reached agreement on how to buy out residents of the heavily industrial, southern Baltimore neighborhood.Residents and city government want to relocate the neighborhood, which has been troubled by foul-smelling air and suspicions over cancer deaths.

Suburban counties -- eyeing a weapon Baltimore and other cities have used against urban blight -- are looking to wield the power of condemnation to revitalize their commercial corridors.In Baltimore County, officials are exploring whether the local government can use eminent domain to take small parcels in 12 old business districts and assemble them into larger, more marketable properties.In Prince George's County, a newly formed Redevelopment Authority has been given the same power to seize residential and commercial properties and resell them for development.

AMERICA'S downtowns are recovering from decades of neglect, basking in fresh investment, refurbished streets and squares, hot demand for their condos, lofts and town houses.But there are clouds on the horizon. One hazard: e-commerce. The Internet's phenomenal growth, coupled with catalogs and 800 numbers, may trigger a 20 percent to 30 percent drop in retail trade, predicts Joel Kotkin of the Pepperdine Institute.And the blow will land on downtowns, suburban malls and big boxes alike, he tells the Los Angeles-based Planning Report.

Baltimore's plans to condemn 90 homes in the city's Wagner's Point area moved one step closer to happening yesterday with the initial backing of the city Board of Estimates.The five-member panel, which includes Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and approves all city spending, voted 4-0 to support a City Council bill that would authorize taking the homes by negotiated settlement or eminent domain. Board chairman Lawrence A. Bell III, president of the city council, abstained.Since last spring, Wagner's Point residents, worried about pollution and a series of cancer cases in the South Baltimore neighborhood, have asked the government and the petrochemical plants on their Fairfield peninsula to jointly negotiate and finance a relocation of their homes.

Two Baltimore-based historic preservation groups are hoping to save dozens of downtown buildings they fear will be demolished as part of the $350 million west side redevelopment plan.Baltimore Heritage Inc. and Preservation Maryland contend in a new report that 150 buildings in the 18-block downtown area slated for renewal have enough historical significance to be spared the wrecking ball.Plan leaders say many of the preservationists' fears are unwarranted and that they intend to save those buildings that have historical significance and are economically viable.

Dreams of a $350 million renovation of the west side of downtown took a step toward reality yesterday when the City Council introduced legislation to condemn 127 properties.City leaders hope that taking the properties will spur the greatest downtown business development since the Inner Harbor. Baltimore joins a list of communities across the nation that have increasingly begun using powers of eminent domain to encourage redevelopment.Despite protests two weeks ago from downtown business owners who would lose their properties, the urban renewal legislation for an area city planners call Market Center arrived with little fanfare.

Market House, the nearly vacant property at City Dock that has entangled the city of Annapolis in a legal battle since 2007, has been returned to the city. Market House Ventures, the private company that has been managing the property for three years, agreed Thursday to return control of it to the city. The company had been working with the city for several months to resolve litigation that was scheduled to go before a judge in June. In the lawsuit, the city contended that Market House Ventures did not make good-faith efforts to fill the property's empty stalls.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, with the support of all eight aldermen on the city council, has introduced a resolution that would condemn the lease for Market House at City Dock, allowing the city to use eminent domain to take back control of the nearly vacant property that is being managed by a private company. The city has been embroiled since 2007 in a legal battle with Market House Ventures Inc., the private company that manages the property, over a faulty cooling and heating system.

Rutherford appointed to position with RNC Washington: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele has named Boyd K. Rutherford, a former Maryland state official, as chief administrative officer of the Republican National Committee. Rutherford, 52, is believed to be the first African-American to run day-to-day operations at party headquarters in Washington, an RNC spokesman said. Rutherford was secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services in Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration, and he later served as a top Agriculture Department official under President George W. Bush.

Here's a sampling of last week's entries from The Baltimore Sun's Maryland Politics blog, along with selected comments from readers. Fretting as tradition Gov. O'Malley is seeking authority to take the Preakness, Pimlico and Laurel Park by eminent domain, if necessary, to keep the second leg of the Triple Crown in Maryland. But here's the interesting thing: We've now got at least four people saying they want to bid for the tracks and keep the Preakness in Maryland. Peter Angelos stepped in first.

State officials and their attorneys have revealed more of their strategy to retain the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, saying Thursday that the state would "likely" try to purchase the historic race either through eminent domain or a court-supervised auction now that it is up for sale in federal bankruptcy proceedings. Funding for those options would be authorized by emergency legislation now speeding through the General Assembly. Introduced this week by Gov. Martin O'Malley, the bill also would authorize the state to seize other Maryland assets owned by financially distressed Magna Entertainment Corp.

Magna Entertainment Corp. and its bankruptcy attorneys criticized Gov. Martin O'Malley's bid Wednesday to assert eminent domain powers over the Preakness Stakes, saying passage of the legislation could lead to more litigation. The governor and lawyers for the state said the proposed law - which has the backing of legislative leaders - is necessary to ensure that the Preakness does not go the way of the Baltimore Colts in the wake of bankruptcy proceedings that began in Delaware last month.

By seeking sweeping powers to buy or seize Maryland's two thoroughbred horse tracks, the O'Malley administration is going the extra mile to protect the state's interest in the Preakness Stakes. The race, a Maryland tradition since 1873, is a big money-maker for the state. The eminent domain legislation proposed Wednesday by Gov. Martin O'Malley may not be necessary - and we hope it won't be - but it could give the state the ability to buy or pre-empt the sale of the Preakness. Let's face it: Neither the governor nor legislative leaders want to be scrambling if bankruptcy proceedings involving the tracks' present owner would trump the state's legal right to acquire the sporting event, the second leg in racing's Triple Crown.

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to introduce emergency legislation Wednesday that would give the state authority to acquire Maryland's bankrupt horse racing tracks and the Preakness through eminent domain, officials confirmed. However, legal experts say the bankruptcy filing by the tracks' owner could prevent the state from exercising that power. Debate on the bill, which has the backing of the General Assembly's presiding officers, could begin as soon as Thursday afternoon in a joint hearing of Senate and House of Delegates lawmakers.

The city of Annapolis is "on solid financial footing," but a half-million-dollar decrease in next year's operating budget will require the city to do more with less, Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said in her annual State of the City address. In the speech, delivered at Monday's city council meeting, Moyer also discussed the city's support for its businesses, emphasis on public information, volunteers, environmental efforts, grants and transportation. "This administration has been financially prudent, while at the same time moving forward to meet the public needs of a new century," Moyer said.

Baltimore's heavy-handed use of eminent domain and persistently high property taxes have forced residents and businesses to flee the city in the last half-century and contributed to the decline of neighborhoods, a Loyola College economist argues in a report published yesterday. Stephen J.K. Walters, in "Baltimore's Flawed Renaissance," writes that the city's pervasive poverty, high crime rate and decaying housing is a direct result of "hostility to private property rights and a resulting flight of capital that has largely drained the city of its economic lifeblood."