Is even my beloved monorail prone to abuse of eminent domain?

I have been a big supporter of the Seattle Monorail but I am wondering if there is some immutable and iron law which dicates that good things get screwed up when you give government too much power to implement...for example: Monorail Monopoly, The Monorail's Latest PR Mess: Excessive Land Appropriations?

Now, in what appears to be only the latest public relations fiasco, the agency appears to be using its governmental power to take advantage of some property owners, condemning more land than they need to build the initial Green Line. In fact, the owners claim--not without reason--that SMP is engaging in an unethical, and perhaps illegal, land grab. The affected properties are likely to rise in value when the project is finished, and SMP could then sell them off to private developers at a hefty profit.

In this light, the timing of the anti-monorail initiative last fall may have been unfortunate indeed as the initiative's overwhelming defeat may have encouraged the monorail authority to abandon caution, as is not unknown to big winners.

Comments

[dave s]

in Virginia, if land condemned for a public project is not used for the project, the original owner has a right to buy it back for what he was paid for it.