California Eminent Domain Report

The City of San Ysidro, a community on the border of San Diego, is currently contemplating whether it should extend its eminent domain powers, which expired last year.  The backlash from the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London appears to still be taking its toll, as the City's advisory committee, the San Ysidro Project Area Committee, is currently deadlocked on the topic.

Liam Dillon covers the story in a Voice of San Diego article, Masters of Their Domain, which provides some great examples of the positives and negatives of the City's use of eminent domain.

For example, community members touted some San Diego projects that likely could not have been accomplished without the power of eminent domain:

• The Las Americas outlet mall;
• The Horton Plaza mall;
• Petco Park; and
• La Entrada, a $38 million affordable housing project in the Barrio Logan

Proponents also touted that the power may be necessary in order to:

1. Build a new football stadium for the San Diego Chargers, and
2. Redevelop some commercial corridors where there is a high concentration of crime

On the other hand, community members voiced concerns about broken promises and perhaps misguided projects, such as the non-construction of a needed library and mixed-use projects, which were planned in the City of Villages concept.