Opinion ID: 2330535
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Authorizing Legislation

Text: On March 2, 2004, Bill B15-752 was introduced to approve NCRC's exercise of the power of eminent domain to acquire the Skyland Site. The draft bill included a finding that the component properties were necessary and desirable for the public use, but it did not explain why the properties were necessary or to what public use they would be devoted. On April 28, 2004, the Council's Committee on Economic Development held a public hearing on the proposed legislation. The Committee reported favorably on the Skyland bill on November 3, 2004, and the Council passed it on December 7, 2004. The version approved by the Council included a set of findings that were not in the bill on November 3. These included findings that: [t]he Skyland Shopping Center is a blighting factor in the Hillcrest and nearby communities; [t]he Skyland Shopping Center is characterized by underused, neglected, and poorly maintained properties; [t]he fragmented and often absentee ownership of the properties has exacerbated [the shopping center's] problems by allowing individual owners to avoid responsibility for safety and the reduction of crime, trash, and other blighting factors; and [n]either the police nor the community have been able to secure the cooperation of the current owners to deal with the numerous problems at the site despite years of efforts. The Council also found that [t]he assemblage of the properties comprising the Skyland Shopping Center and the construction of a new shopping center on the site . . . will further many important public purposes, including removal of garbage and other unsanitary conditions, reduction of crime, reorganization of the site, provision of needed job opportunities and retail options for residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, revitalization of an economically distressed community, and expansion of the tax base of the District of Columbia. The Council did not hold any additional public hearings before adding these findings. Mayor Williams signed the bill on December 29, 2004, and the act became law after the Congressional review period ended on April 5, 2005. [1] NCRC acquired most of the properties contained in the Skyland Site through private negotiations and other condemnation actions. [2]