Court Refuses to Hear Columbia University Redevelopment Case
The United States Supreme Court today issued its decision denying property owner Nick Sprayregen’s petition for certification. The two issues raised in the petition were: “1) Whether it was error for the Court of Appeals of New York to disregard the principles enunciated in Kelo v. City of New London in sanctioning the use of eminent domain for the benefit of a private developer? 2) Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States imposes any minimum procedural standards, in accordance with the requirement of fundamental fairness, to preserve a property owner’s meaningful opportunity to be heard within the context of an eminent domain taking?”
This petition had been closely watched by many as one of the first redevelopment (or blighted area) takings case that had reached the Court since the infamous Kelo decision in 2005. The Supreme Court’s failure to hear this case means that Columbia University’s expansion can now continue, with the Empire State Development Corporation utilizing eminent domain to acquire the properties needed for the project.
For more on this decision, read Greg Stohr’s article in Bloomberg News here.
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