Florida Eminent Domain Blog | Gregory W. Stoner

At the time the project designated "Elementary School C" was begun, it was somewhat necessary. The nearby Hollywood Central Elementary was crowded in 2003, and on the basis of that, the school board approved a project to build a new elementary school to take up the extra students.

In 2005, extra seats were added to Hollywood Central, so that the school was only overenrolled by 33 students. Acquisition of necessary properties were being carried out at this time, and the school district could probably have backed out of the project at this point if it had realistically considered the enrollment trends it was seeing. But it did not, and it ended up spending $6.3 million to acquire 54 neighborhood homes including the acquisition of 9 properties through eminent domain proceedings. These forced removals and the expense of paying full compensation, at least could have been avoided. Although the average compensation per property was only about $117,000, some of those removed through eminent domain received compensation in excess of $300,000.

Instead, the school board proceeded and ended up spending $25 million on an 834-seat school in a district that currently has over 25,000 empty seats.

Many public officials seem to have forgotten that eminent domain power should be used sparingly, and examples like this may make it easier to defend your property against eminent domain actions. If your property is being threatened by a superfluous eminent domain project, the eminent domain lawyers of the Florida Property Rights Law Firm, PA can help. Please contact us today for a free consultation.