BRENTWOOD, Mo. – Some small businesses are suing the City of Brentwood after they’ve declared the business’ property as blighted. That designation opens the door to eminent domain, an important step in the city’s $436 million redevelopment plan for Manchester Road.
Time for Dinner has fed families in Brentwood for 20 years.
“What we do is help you get good meals on the table,” Amy Stanford, who owns Time for Dinner with her sister, said.
She worries about how much longer they will be at their location on Manchester Road in Brentwood.
“It’s just terrifying to think that we might have to move, plus everybody knows where we are,” Stanford said.
Time for Dinner is one of 75 properties along a stretch of Manchester Road between Mary Avenue and Hanley Road that the city has declared blighted. Once blighted, the city can use eminent domain to take ownership of the property.
The Institute for Justice fights these cases all over the country. It is now representing Time for Dinner and two other small business owner’s in this lawsuit.
“The city doesn’t have substantial evidence that that’s what’s going on. If you look at our clients properties on the Manchester Corridor, there’s no deterioration; there’s no unsafe condition,” Bobbi Taylor, attorney for the Institute for Justice, said.
A June 2023 report details the reasons behind Brentwood’s blight designation. It points to issues at multiple properties along Manchester like the need for paint, cracks in parking lots, or damaged trash holding facilities. Stanford and a couple of other business owners who are suing say to call it blight is an overreaction.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman of Property Rights, Missouri law does make it possible for an entire area to be blighted instead of each individual property if a “preponderance of the defined redevelopment area is blighted.”
Brentwood’s blight report says out of 75 parcels of land, 26 are vacant and 48 have “signs of physical deterioration.”
So the city wants to use eminent domain and use the land for a $436 million redevelopment plan that includes a three-story office building, a hotel, and a five-story multi-family structure. The project is predicted to generate $266 million in new revenue over 25 years. But this proposal has sparked another argument in this lawsuit.
“Under Missouri law, it is illegal to use eminent domain solely for economic development,” Taylor said.
City officials declined an interview but City Communications Manager Michelle Boyer sent the following written statement:
“There is a lawsuit against the city challenging our designation of Manchester Road’s blight condition. Unfortunately, out of the dozens of parcels of property slated to benefit from Brentwood’s redevelopment program along Manchester Road, three tenants and one property owner filed a lawsuit challenging the city’s economic development and flood management effort. While that litigation is pending, the city simply cannot do or say anything that might give those litigants a chance to jeopardize these critical community improvements. These civic issues were fully debated and decided in public meetings spanning over two years.
“Unfortunately, as is well documented, over time, blight is infectious and can spread quickly from property to property. When any piece of property is not maintained in a way that adds to the vibrancy and attractiveness of the area, neighboring property owners are less inclined to reinvest, renew, refresh, and properly maintain their properties.”
“We love our business. We’ve worked hard. We’ve made it so it’s a pleasant place for people to come, and we’re devastated to think that they’re trying to get rid of us,” Stanford said.
To see the blight analysis and the redevelopment plans, click here.
