Just Compensation in Chicago
Brian Elmiger, owner of the restaurant and concert venue Bottom Lounge, found out more than seven years ago that the CTA planned to take his property. So he relocated from next to an el stop in Lake View to the West Loop. Today, Elmiger says he would never have made the move, to a refurbished building at 1375 W. Lake, if he'd known how much it would cost him.
"It is an absolute miracle that we opened again," Elmiger said. "I mean, a miracle."
But Bottom Lounge isn't out of the woods quite yet. The path to reopening involved hiring attorneys, paying for construction and, subsequently, a whole lot of debt. Three years after closing down and almost a year after reopening, Elmiger is fighting to get the CTA to foot a bill that amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So far, the CTA has forced 30 businesses to relocate to expand the Brown Line. And the temporary closing of el stops for project construction has affected them even more. At first glance, eminent domain seems like a simple law.
"This is the way public bodies get land," said Bill Ryan, a partner at Ryan and Ryan, a law firm that specializes in eminent domain cases. Ryan said there are two big questions that come up in every eminent domain claim he works on.
"One, do they," the public body, "have the right to take the property and, two, how much money do they have to pay?"
The Fifth Amendment says government can't take private property without paying for it, which is where the law leaves room for interpretation. The phrase is "just compensation," and the debate centers around what's just.
"On value, it's a wide-open issue," Ryan said. "It's a regular lawsuit: we have depositions, discovery and negotiations, and if we can't resolve it, then we have trials."
But "just compensation" can also reach beyond property value.
Because the Brown Line Expansion Project used federal funding, the CTA also had to comply with the Uniform Relocation Act, which, according to Ryan, means that the CTA was also responsible for relocation expenses. It's yet another law that leaves room for interpretation.
The $530 million Brown Line project broke ground in 2004 with the goal of providing longer platforms to accommodate longer trains, making Brown line stations accessible to disabled people, and modernizing stations. The CTA says they expect to complete construction by the end of 2009.
Public use requires the taking of land. As this article illustrates, the harm to owners is specific and can be harsh. The just compensation process provides owners the only available remedy when there is condemnation for a public use. Bill Ryan's comments are well stated.
