In re Condemnation by the Redevelopment Authority of Lawrence County

The Redevelopment Authority of Lawrence County (RALC) (defendant) designated a portion of land within Millennium Park as a redevelopment area. The redevelopment area was zoned for industrial use. In cooperation with Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation (LCEDC), a private nonprofit corporation, RALC planned to exercise its eminent-domain powers to condemn the residential properties located within the Millennium Park redevelopment area to clear space for a chip-manufacturing facility. To justify eminent domain, RALC classified the residential properties within the redevelopment area as economically blighted because the highest and best use of those properties was industrial, not residential. The owners of the condemned residential properties, the Estate of David Hamilton and Thomas Whittaker (landowners) (plaintiffs), challenged RALC’s exercise of eminent domain, arguing that (1) under Pennsylvania law, private property cannot be condemned under eminent domain solely for economic development purposes; and (2) RALC cannot condemn private property to facilitate industrial development by a private entity like LCEDC. RALC countered, arguing that the landowners’ properties were blighted because residential use in an industrial zone was economically undesirable. It was undisputed that the landowners’ properties were safe, sanitary, and not subject to condemnation based on physical condition. The trial court upheld the condemnation because the landowners failed to prove that RALC’s classification of the properties as economically blighted was in bad faith. The landowners appealed.