It's a matter of fairness

May 16, 2007
Residential redevelopment projects serve an important public interest in Memphis, maximizing the efficient use of existing infrastructure and re-energizing deteriorating neighborhoods.

The benefits of developments like Uptown, which is gradually replacing blighted areas near The Pyramid, are well-documented.

In other words, the project meets the criteria established by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo vs. City of New London and provisions of Tennessee law that justify the use of eminent domain to acquire property.

The Kelo decision in 2005 gave states the right to decide when eminent domain is necessary, even if that includes taking property for economic development purposes.

A Tennessee law passed subsequent to Kelo placed some new restrictions on the use of eminent domain, but nothing that would prohibit the government from seizing the small Looney Street lot purchased by former Memphis City Councilman Fred Davis in 1989.

If Davis follows through with his plan to develop the property, especially if it is done in a way that meshes with the Uptown project, no one should stand in his way.

There should, however, be a limit to how long city government can wait for that to happen.

As a marketable Uptown continues to spring from the blight, the transition can be gradual, but it must be orderly.

Uptown is not being developed to generate more tax revenue for Memphis. Its value is in attractive and affordable housing that could keep people from leaving Memphis and perhaps even bring a few emigrants back.

Its location near Downtown, Mud Island, The Pyramid and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital also gives the project an important role to play in the cultural and economic life of the city.

It would be a shame to see vacant lots in the center of an otherwise revitalized area.

But as important as it is, no one wants to see property owners sustain crippling economic losses as a result of a project like Uptown.

Davis, owner of Fred Davis Insurance Agency, paid $53,000 for the quarter-acre lot with the intention of developing it. It's now appraised at $16,200.

Eventually, the Memphis Housing Authority and the Division of Housing and Community Development may have to resort to eminent domain to obtain the tract.

In any case, the owner deserves fair market value.

In Davis' case, that would seem to be a lot more than its current appraisal, perhaps even more than the $53,000 he paid for it as an investment.

If he and other property owners like him are treated fairly, there is every reason for progress in Uptown to continue.