Eminent domain refers to the process by which the government may seize private property with proper compensation, but without the owner’s consent. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution stipulates:

  1. that the property must be claimed for “a public use;” and,
  2. that "just compensation" must be provided to the property owner.

In order to claim eminent domain over a property for the purposes of economic development, the government must establish that the property is “blighted."

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