Real Estate & Property Law

Court says no to church condemnation

By Alan Ackerman

Star Tribune

In a case that sparked intense turmoil and contributed to the ouster of a long-time mayor, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that the city of Jordan may not carve into the grounds of a historic Catholic church in order to widen roads for future growth.

Unanimously overturning the opinion of Scott County District Judge Michael Fahey, the appeals court said Tuesday that state law prohibits cities from seizing the property of religious groups without their consent when it seeks to widen streets or roads.

The controversy carried huge symbolic weight for many in Jordan worried that Scott County's hypergrowth was ripping into the fabric of a historic downtown.

"Widening a road so close to an important historic structure is the heart and soul of the case," said Larry Martin, the church's attorney.

The city council may decide as soon as today whether to seek to take the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

"Right now we're praying for the city and praying for a peaceful resolution," said Pam Beckius, business administrator for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, at the edge of downtown.

The case did present the courts with a twist they hadn't quite seen before, Martin said. It's clear that Jordan couldn't have forced the church to give up land for a street, as such. But it was not so clear that the same law forbade the use of eminent domain to take church property for the traffic signals and sidewalks needed for a wider road.

One thing the case precedent is consistent about is that when there is a prohibition on government from condemning a specific object, be it a church, cemetery or something else, the courts will refuse the condemning agency's attempts of involuntary acquisition.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on April 17, 2009 (boomark / email).