NorthSide on Trial

By Jason A. Orr

The trial has begun for the lawsuit filed by Cheryl Nelson
and other property owners who are threatened by the “pie in the sky” NorthSide
mega-development in St.
Louis, Missouri. The 1,500-acre, $8.1 billion development
project casts whole neighborhoods under a “blight” designation, which allows for
eminent domain to be used to seize their perfectly fine homes and
businesses.

Nelson says that this blight designation has decreased the
property value of her home by 30% since developer Paul McKee announced his
grandiose plan to build a shiny new neighborhood overtop the one that was
already there.[1]

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the NorthSide
project area was just fine before the developer showed up – even the report
financed by McKee that found the neighborhood to be “blighted” admits that 75%
of the structures in the area were in “fair” or “excellent” condition.[2]

The plaintiffs accuse the city of wrongly declaring their
neighborhoods as “blighted” in order to enable $390 million in tax breaks that
officials want to hand over to Paul McKee.
Aldermen Kacie Starr Triplet said that declaring a neighborhood blighted
is just a “procedural” step the city takes before granting a development project
such tax abatement.[3]

She added that eminent domain would not be used for the
project… even though the city reserves the power to use it at any time.[4]
Residents are urged to simply take her
word for it. Victims of eminent domain
abuse nationwide know not to believe these empty promises.

City aldermen, in the meantime, are looking for a quick-fix
for the economic trouble that has affected neighborhoods in the NorthSide area
in recent years. The development already
occurring without public subsidies or the threat of eminent domain is just too
slow for city officials who want to wave a magic wand and see prosperity and the
increased tax revenues that come with it.
“This was an opportunity to have a major development,” said Alderwoman
Triplet, complaining that “incremental development” was not on the same scale as
McKee’s large but financially uncertain project.[5]

Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr. does not even care that the
project is unlikely to work. “It
certainly might be a pipe dream,” he said. “Until it actually occurs, you never
know. Let’s try it. Nobody’s going to get hurt.”[6]

Nobody gets hurt, except for Cheryl Nelson and hundreds of
other homeowners who may be booted out of their communities, so that a hot-shot
developer can bulldoze their neighborhoods to build more profitable and more
expensive houses.

Whom do these Aldermen represent?