In September, a Missouri judge upheld the city of Brentwood's plan to seize businesses along the Manchester Road Corridor, siding with the city's $436 million redevelopment scheme and its decision to label the area "blighted." Judge Kristine Allen Kerr ruled in the case of Feather-Craft et al v. Brentwood that the blight determination of the Corridor is "fairly debatable"—a legal standard that makes it harder for property owners to challenge government takings—and disagreed that the city made its blight determination "arbitrarily and capriciously." This ruling could clear the way for the seizure of several businesses along the Corridor.
The Institute for Justice (I.J.) filed a lawsuit in December 2023 on behalf of four businesses that were designated as blighted by the city. The suit alleged that city leaders violated Missouri law with both the blight designation and their intent to use eminent domain to condemn their properties.
