Facts
- Wayne County planned the “Pinnacle Project,” a 1,300-acre business and technology park near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, including commercial amenities such as a hotel and conference center.
- The County asserted the project would attract businesses, create approximately 30,000 jobs, and increase tax revenues.
- The County acquired most of the needed land through voluntary sales and sought to condemn the remaining parcels through eminent domain.
- The condemned properties were not alleged to be blighted, and the County intended to transfer the assembled land to private developers and occupants.
- Landowners challenged the condemnations as not for a “public use” under article 10, § 2 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution.
- The circuit court upheld the takings; the court of appeals affirmed by relying on Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit, which had allowed takings justified by broad economic benefits.
Issues
- Whether condemning non-blighted private property for transfer to private parties as part of an economic-development project satisfies the “public use” requirement of article 10, § 2 of the Michigan Constitution.
- Whether Michigan’s eminent-domain statute authorized the condemnations, and if so, whether that authorization was constitutionally sufficient.
- Whether Poletown’s interpretation equating “public use” with generalized “public benefit” should be retained.
Decision
- The Michigan Supreme Court held the condemnations were authorized by MCL 213.23 but unconstitutional under article 10, § 2 because they were not for “public use.”
- The Court overruled Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit.
- The Court reversed the court of appeals and remanded for entry of summary disposition for the landowners.
Legal Principles
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Under the Michigan Constitution, “public use” is a meaningful limit and is not satisfied merely because a taking may produce jobs, tax revenue, or other indirect economic benefits.
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A taking that transfers condemned property to a private entity is constitutional only within limited circumstances, including:
- a public necessity of an extreme sort (traditionally involving indispensable infrastructure or instrumentalities of commerce);
- continuing public oversight or control of the property’s use after transfer; or
- selection of the specific property based on facts of independent public significance (such as addressing a property-based public harm), rather than the private interests of the transferee.
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Economic development alone, without fitting within these categories, does not constitute “public use” when the practical result is a forced transfer from one private owner to another.
Conclusion
The court invalidated Wayne County’s attempted condemnations for a privately used business park, holding that projected economic benefits do not satisfy Michigan’s constitutional “public use” requirement, and it replaced Poletown with a narrower test limiting when property may be taken for transfer to private parties.