Washington County Commissioner John C. Munson says he wants county government to keep its hands off private property, for the most part.
Munson on Tuesday asked the County Commissioners to approve a resolution that states the county would back away from using eminent domain to acquire private property, except as a last resort.
The commissioners plan to place the proposed resolution on next Tuesday's meeting agenda.
Munson asked for the resolution's approval in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a government's right to take private property for public purposes.
The draft resolution states that the Supreme Court upheld "what the majority maintained is local government's ability to take private property for a vaguely defined 'public good' such as economic development, or increased tax revenues to the local government itself."
