It hasn’t taken very long for the consequences of the Missouri Supreme Court’s opinion in the Arnold eminent domain case to become very real for Missouri property owners.
In Sugar Creek, the small suburb of Kansas City, the decision sent a clear signal to property owners: sell or be condemned. So, that’s what many of them, left with no other choice, have done.
Fox 4 in Kansas City reported on the bulldozers’ arrival in Sugar Creek:
Virginia Marth said it’s tough to watch bulldozers take down six generations of her family history in Sugar Creek.
“The house they just finished demolishing at one time my grandfather owned,” she said.
“Lifetimes to build and maintain and in 20 minutes it’s gone,” her daughter Penelope said.
Virginia and her daughter were holding out against a shopping center development, but when a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision didn’t go their way, they agreed to sell.
“We fought as long as we could, as hard as we could,” Virginia said.
Now they’re hoping all of Missouri will have a say about eminent domain in November. If the petitions are certified, voters will decide on an initiative that would put new restrictions on using eminent domain for private development.
“We can change the constitution and then this won’t happen,” Penelope said.
Supporters for the ballot initiative in Missouri have submitted the required signatures and those are being counted. Currently supporters wait to hear if they collected enough valid signatures for the initiative to appear on the November ballot.