A new case of eminent domain in this state raises the question of whether stricter proof of need should be required before government agencies can jump in and employ the process.
Eminent domain allows government entities to take private property — for “fair market value” — for public projects. (In other states, this even extends to private projects if they promote “economic development”; Washington’s Constitution does not allow for this.)
The latest example: The Snoqualmie Valley School District is trying to buy seven homes near Mount Si High School, which it says is necessary to build a new school on the current grounds, the Snoqualmie Valley Record reported earlier this month. The school district says the seven parcels bordering the construction site are needed to comply with zoning regulations for adequate parking. Right off the bat, the idea of destroying homes for parking hardly seems a compelling argument.
The school district says that buying (or condemning if people aren’t willing to sell) the homes will shorten the construction timeline from eight years to three. In other words, the project can be completed without paying for and tearing down the houses, but it will take longer. Can they really show that shaving time off the project will be less expensive than paying for all those homes? Or enough of a savings to warrant taking people’s private property?
In such cases, homeowners are supposed to be compensated with “fair market value,” but in this real estate market, it’s difficult to believe a school district can afford fair market value. No one disputes the need for a new high school. But naturally, the district’s plan isn’t sitting well with homeowners, as KOMO-TV, Channel 4 reported.
But people who try to fight the proceedings, rarely win. Which is another reason it might be time to make the process more rigorous.
We have our own case here in Snohomish County, of course. The Snohomish County Council condemned several private businesses for its last-minute change of plans to build a new courthouse across the street, rather than on the existing county campus. It required buying out six properties at a cost of roughly $3.6 million. Moving the building site added at least $30 million more to the project than the original plan to build on the plaza. A controversy over parking has delayed the project further, increasing costs by the day.
The only part of the project completed so far: The private businesses are gone from their buildings.
The county’s request for eminent domain was readily approved, although it was just the council’s preference of where they wanted to build, not a necessity. Building the courthouse across the street wasn’t the only option, or even the best option. For that eminent domain is justified?
Stricter requirements would help the homeowners in Snoqualmie. Can’t a court say, “Go back to the drawing board”?
It seems especially egregious to take homes, the owners of which, of course, pay property taxes that support local schools.
These two cases don’t support the idea that taking private property is the best or only solution to problem, or the best way to serve the public.
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