Brief Fact Summary. A city condemned private property in order to give it to a corporation so jobs would not be lost.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Condemnation for the public welfare cannot be forbidden, even if there is incidental private gain.
Issue. Can a municipality use the power of eminent domain to condemn property for transfer to a private corporation to build a plant to promote industry and commerce, thereby adding jobs and taxes to the economic base of the municipality and state?
Held. Yes.
Condemnation for a private use cannot be authorized whatever its incidental public benefit, and condemnation for a public purpose cannot be forbidden whatever the incidental private gain. This dispute is whether the proposed condemnation is for the primary benefit of the public or the private user.
The Legislature has determined that governmental action of the type proposed here meets a public need and serves a public purpose. It cannot be reversed by the court unless it is arbitrary and incorrect.
The power of eminent domain is to be used here to accomplish the essential public purpose of alleviating unemployment and revitalizing the economic base of the community. The benefit to private interest is merely incidental.
The power of eminent domain is restricted to furthering public uses and purposes and is not to be exercised without substantial proof that the public is primarily to be benefited. When a specific private interest is to be benefited, heightened scrutiny will be used and the public benefit must be clear and significant.
Where, as here, the condemnation power is exercised in a way that benefits specific and identifiable private interests, a court inspects with heightened scrutiny the claim that the public interest is the predominant interest being advanced.
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