(A) No agency shall appropriate real property except as necessary and for a public use. In any appropriation, the taking agency shall show by a preponderance of the evidence that the taking is necessary and for a public use.

(B) Before an agency appropriates property based on a finding that the area is a blighted area or a slum, the agency shall do both of the following:

(1) Adopt a comprehensive development plan that describes the public need for the property. The plan shall include at least one study documenting the public need. All of the costs of developing the plan shall be publicly financed.

(2) If the agency is governed by a legislative body, obtain a resolution from that legislative body affirming the public need for the property.

(C) No park board, park district, board of directors of a conservancy district, incorporated association with a purpose of establishing or preserving public parks and memorial sites, or similar park authority shall exercise any power of eminent domain to appropriate real property outside the county or counties in which the park authority is located unless the appropriation has the written approval of the legislative authority of each county in which the property is located, other than the county or counties in which the park authority is located.

(D) No agency shall appropriate property based on a finding that the parcel is a blighted parcel or that the area is a blighted area or slum by making that finding in, or in conjunction with, an emergency ordinance or resolution.

(E) If an appropriation is by a public agency that is not elected and an owner has provided the public agency with a written objection to the appropriation, the elected officials of the public agency or elected individual that appointed the unelected agency may veto that appropriation. If the unelected public agency was appointed by more than one public agency or elected individual, a majority vote of the elected officials of the appointing public agencies or elected individuals is required to veto the appropriation. If the public agency that is not elected is a state agency or instrumentality such as a university, the governor has the veto authority. The governor may delegate that authority but may not delegate that authority to the unelected agency that seeks the appropriation.

Effective Date: 2007 SB7 10-10-2007.