Municipal authorities aimed to wield eminent-domain powers to halt a housing development, drawing opposition from nearby NIMBY residents.
Last year, I wrote about SCLS Realty v. Town of Johnston, a case in which landowners challenged a Rhode Island town’s plan to employ eminent domain as a means to block a housing project opposed by local NIMBYs. A few days ago, a federal district court struck down the use of eminent domain there. Yet the ruling did not hinge on the “public use” theory discussed in my 2025 post. Instead, the court held that the town never received the authority to seize property for such a purpose in the first place. In Rhode Island, as in many states, the power of eminent domain resides with the state government, and municipalities may exercise it only to the extent that the state legislature authorizes them to do so.
Robert Thomas of the Pacific Legal Foundation (the public-interest law firm representing the landowners) offers a concise and more detailed summary of the court’s decision on his Inverse Condemnation blog.
NOTE: PLF is also the author’s spouse’s employer. However, she has no involvement in this matter and does not work on property-rights issues.
