Noncharter cities have power to exercise eminent domain for private redevelopment.(Recent Court Decisions)(City of Arnold v. Tourkakis)

The Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that the state constitution did not limit eminent domain power to charter cities and that a noncharter city had statutory authority to condemn property for private redevelopment.

For more than 20 years, Homer Tourkakis practiced dentistry out of a building he owned in the city of Arnold. In 2004, the city adopted a redevelopment plan for a site including Tourkakis's property that involved replacing the area's 52 homes and businesses with a shopping mall and big box retailers. The city declared the area blighted pursuant to the state's tax increment financing (TIF) act, which permits municipalities to use eminent domain and tax abatements to redevelop blighted areas, subject to constitutional limitations. When Tourkakis refused to sell his property, the city sought to acquire it through eminent domain.

Tourkakis defended against the taking by arguing that only charter cities had constitutional authority to use eminent domain power for redevelopment and that Arnold, as a noncharter city, lacked the power to condemn his property. Under the state constitution, a charter city has all the powers that the legislature can grant; a noncharter city has no powers other than those expressly granted by statute, and thus no inherent power of eminent domain. The trial court found that Arnold's status as a noncharter city was a constitutional limitation that prevented its utilization of the TIF act to condemn blighted areas. The city appealed.

On review, the state supreme court began by examining the pertinent clause of the state constitution, which states that "[l]aws may be enacted, and any city or county operating under a constitutional charter may enact ...