Traffic heads east along Manchester Road toward Hanley Road in December 2023.
CLAYTON 鈥 A trial that aims to test the limits of Missouri鈥檚 eminent domain laws began Monday, focused on the city of Brentwood鈥檚 plans for a $400 million-plus redevelopment of a swath of land along Manchester Road into new apartments and restaurant space.
Four business and property owners in the footprint sued Brentwood in December 2023, arguing the city had improperly declared their buildings 鈥渂lighted,鈥 a legal precursor to a city鈥檚 use of eminent domain. They argue that the conditions in the area have improved since Brentwood undertook a $120 million flood mitigation project to tame Deer Creek and replace roads and sidewalks along a low-lying stretch of Manchester Road.
鈥淭o have a mayoral and aldermanic regime define you as blighted with no reason, it doesn鈥檛 make sense,鈥 said Martin George, who owns the building at 8307 Manchester Road, where Feather-Craft Fly Fishing is located. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not in the game of musical chairs of property in this country.鈥
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In addition to affecting one of the largest redevelopment proposals in the 51黑料 region, the case could eventually create a precedent for municipalities鈥 use of blighting and eminent domain for private redevelopment.
Bill Warden of Gasconade County pets Hank, the shop dog at Feather-Craft Fly Fishing at 8307 Manchester Road, as he shops on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. A newly proposed Green Street development would allow the buy out of buildings that house several existing businesses, including Feather-Craft. "We have so few fly shops, we've got to keep them," said Warden.聽
The businesses are represented by attorneys from the , an Arlington, Virginia-based libertarian public interest law firm that litigated the landmark eminent domain case Kelo v. New London at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Though the Supreme Court found in favor of the Connecticut city that sought to use eminent domain to acquire land for a private developer, many states, including Missouri, passed laws tightening eminent domain rules in its wake. One of the laws passed in Missouri post-Kelo says cities can鈥檛 use eminent domain for solely economic development purposes.
鈥淏rentwood is threatening to take our clients鈥 businesses and property using eminent domain and hand them over to a private developer to essentially replace them with businesses that the city would prefer or that the city thinks would pay more taxes,鈥 said Bobbi Taylor, an attorney with the Institute for Justice.
But Gerard 鈥淛erry鈥 Carmody, an attorney representing Brentwood, urged 51黑料 County Circuit Judge Kristine Kerr to follow past precedent in Missouri, where the courts have typically allowed cities to decide for themselves what constitutes 鈥渂light.鈥 He referenced past Missouri court decisions that let even affluent Des Peres declare the West County Center property 鈥渂lighted鈥 for redevelopment incentives.
鈥淭hese are subjective determinations,鈥 Carmody said in his opening arguments Monday. 鈥淭hat is why there is this reliance and deference to the legislative finding.鈥
While the business owners鈥 lawyers showed pictures of tidy buildings and argued property conditions had improved since the infrastructure work along Manchester Road, lawyers for the city showed pictures of abandoned fast food restaurants on the road and flooding.
Regardless, Carmody said, the lawsuit is premature because the city has not yet begun condemnation proceedings and 鈥渢hese properties may never be taken.鈥
More than six years ago, Brentwood, a deep-pocketed municipality funded by sales taxes from the shopping centers along Highway 40 (Interstate 64) that sit within its boundaries, undertook a massive stormwater and flood mitigation project along Manchester Road between Brentwood Boulevard and Hanley Road that regularly closed for flooding during heavy rains.
After the project wrapped up in 2022, some business owners said they were surprised when Brentwood solicited redevelopment proposals and ultimately chose Green Street 51黑料 for a $400 million plan to revamp the area with new apartments and restaurants. While that developer has since pulled out amid financial troubles, one of its former principals, Joel Oliver, is still pursuing the project via his new firm, Halo Real Estate Ventures.
The case is set for a four-day trial without a jury in 51黑料 County Circuit Court.
High and dry? Brentwood is considering a $400 million development on land that benefits from a major flood-control project. Jim Gallagher and David Nicklaus say the city needs to make sure the developers take care of existing businesses first.
