Soccer Stadiums and the Public

An article on the Sandy, Utah city council rezoning city land to allow for Real Salt Lake's (RSL) new stadium contained a passage on an interesting conundrum:

"But some land at the site, including the remainder of the rezoned 12.6-acre parcel - now zoned 'regional commercial' - is still held by homeowners."

"'My mom does not want to sell [her home], and we don't want her to be kicked off the property,' Merridy Bagley said after the meeting. Her 80-year-old mother owns 1.5 acres on the site, she said."

"Bagley said Sports Capital Partners offered the family a pittance for the property several months ago, and the family refused. But Bagley said the family might be willing to sell if the stadium-builders come back with a higher offer."

This naturally pricks up the ears of an Oregonian, as my home state is home to Measure 37. It will be interesting to see how city and RSL honchos deal with little old ladies. This far removed from the situation, I don't know what "a pittance" means to Merridy Bagley, but hope the people pushing the deal don't do anything too asshole-ish.

I believe the phrase to watch for is "eminent domain."

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