Forcing the Sale: City Weighs Eminent Domain to Obtain Public Works Facility

The Public Works Department, which manages public infrastructure and waste collection, has operated out of this Paxton Street facility since 2014.

Harrisburg is considering using an age-old, if controversial, method to obtain a permanent public works facility: Eminent domain.

City Council introduced a resolution Tuesday that, if approved, would allow the city to force the sale of properties that the Department of Public Works currently uses as its facility.

The department has rented the facility at 1812-1820 Paxton St., formerly a Brenner auto dealership, since 2014, after moving from a location on the city incinerator grounds.

The lease expired last month, without the option to renew. The city now is renting the property on a month-to-month basis.

City Councilman Westburn Majors, public works committee chair, sees this resolution as a last resort.

“[The measure was introduced] just so we have the ability if we need to use eminent domain,” he said. “I don’t think we are looking to do any eminent domain proceedings anytime soon.”

The 11 properties on Paxton and N. 19^th streets, all zoned for commercial use, are currently owned by MEB Partners, LP; Brenner Motors, Inc.; Michael A. Brenner; Sam and Nancy Fulginiti; and Stephen M. Kozlosky, according to the resolution.

“The law bureau and the city are working with the owner to get a sale first, and if they can’t reach an agreement, then [eminent domain would be] a possibility,” Majors said.

The city’s 2017 budget, the first in many years to include a capital improvement budget, allocates $2.5 million to obtain a public works facility. 

City Solicitor Neil Grover said using eminent domain, the government’s power to obtain private properties for public use, for a public works facility would be uncommon.

The city last used eminent domain powers three years ago when the city obtained pieces of properties to widen 7^th Street, he said.

“It’s sort of the ‘old school’ of what governments do, how they acquire property for an essential function,” Grover said.

Government typically uses this power in blighted neighborhoods for redevelopment projects, he said.

If City Council moves forward with using eminent domain, Grover alluded to a long process.

“It’s the beginning of a long-term thing,” he said.

Author: Danielle Roth