Lawsuit Filed by Missouri Business Owners to Challenge State’s Eminent Domain Law

Three small business owners in Brentwood, Missouri, have filed a lawsuit against the city to stop a $436 million redevelopment plan. The lawsuit comes after the city declared a 40-acre strip of land running along Manchester Road in Brentwood blighted. With the declaration of blight, the city plans to use eminent domain to take over the properties in the area. This will allow it to execute its massive multi-million dollar redevelopment plan.

Over 70 properties, many of which are small businesses, sit on the eight blocks that the city says are blighted. While some of these properties appear vacant and in distress, many of them include small businesses that are still in operation.

Affected business owners include Amy Stanford, owner and operator of the mom-and-pop diner Time for Dinner, who explains that she’s worried about the city's decision to move forward with its redevelopment plan. Her restaurant employs 25 workers and has established itself among community members. “It's overwhelming,” Stanford says when expressing her thoughts of having to relocate if the city's plans come to fruition. Stanford is one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She is joined by two other small businesses including Feather-Craft Fly Fishing and Convergence Dance And Body Studio.

The lawsuit was filed by Virginia Beach law firm The Institute for Justice. They have stepped in to take the lead on this case arguing that the government is blatantly violating the rights of business owners through its alleged right to use eminent domain under the current circumstances.

Bobbi Taylor is the attorney representing the small businesses. Taylor says that the city does not have substantial evidence to deem the area of interest as blighted. The allegations of blight are supported by complaints about chipping paint on building facades and unkempt garbage areas, along with cracks in parking lots. Taylor explains, “The city declared the entire Manchester Corridor to be a ‘blighted area.’ The city did not make a parcel-by-parcel or building-by-building determination of blight.”

Taylor highlights that buildings that show evidence of blight are actually owned by the city and not by the business owners who are being subjected to the potential loss of their property. “They are perpetuating the very problem they claim to be combating,” Taylor expressed about the city during a press conference.

Taylor also highlights that Missouri law does not allow the use of eminent domain if the only reason is economic development. The city's robust redevelopment plan appears to be the major motivation for deeming the 40-acre land area as being blighted.

A spokeswoman for the city, Michelle Boyer, has since issued a statement following the lawsuit. Boyer explains, “Unfortunately, out of the dozens of parcels of property slated to benefit from Brentwood’s redevelopment program along Manchester Road, three tenants and one property owner filed a lawsuit challenging the City’s economic development and flood management effort. While that litigation is pending, the City simply cannot do or say anything that might give those litigants a chance to jeopardize these critical community improvements. These civic issues were fully debated and decided in public meetings spanning over two years.”

If the new redevelopment project is greenlit, it would bring to the area a new hotel, a five-story potential complex, a senior living facility, restaurants, and retail shops.