Awesome power

Teaneck residents have a knack for courting controversy. Whether it's the periodic attempts to browbeat the Council into commenting on national political issues or the tumult surrounding the rather tame Master Plan revision, we seem to relish confrontation and debate. So it should not be surprising that despite the absence of any plans to seize private property through eminent domain, some residents have been up in arms about the issue.

While recent planning documents have downplayed eminent domain as an option for private redevelopment in Teaneck and counseled against using it in anything but the most extreme circumstances, the very mention of the practice has apparently stimulated some to urge the Council to voluntarily renounce its right to employ the method in the future.

There is certainly a lot to fear when it comes to eminent domain. The Court-protected power of a municipality to override one party's private property rights to benefit another in certain instances does in fact pose a direct threat, especially to poorer individuals who are more liable to own property in areas designated as "blighted." Rather than leaving the fate of such citizens up to the whims of future elected officials, why not lobby the Council to take a proactive step to insulate residents from the use of government power to dispossess them?

Though this may seem sensible on paper, it is basically a non-starter. The Council would be foolish, and perhaps irresponsible, to surrender its legitimate right to act in the best interests of the Township sight unseen. A Council that would toss out an option on the future without knowing what the future will bring would be doing itself, its successors, and all of Teaneck a disservice. It is not the role of the Council to circumscribe its own powers ex ante, but rather to act judiciously and with the proper sensitivity when cases arise. The public, and ultimately, the courts, serve as the check on that and should be all the protection Teaneck needs against potential abuses through unjustified appropriation of private land.

To their credit, members of the Council spoke eloquently in their roles as representatives of the Township against any effort to curtail municipal government's powers prematurely, all the while acknowledging that eminent domain should not be applied casually. Under current circumstances, it is hard to see a situation in which Teaneck would resort to this practice. Nevertheless, if it is protection against government encroachment on our property rights we seek, our best course of action is to stand up and make our voices heard in the event that an actual injustice occurs instead of whipping up hysteria now. As the next election approaches, we might also resolve to compel future candidates for office to articulate a clear statement of their own reluctance to employ this extreme method.