Supremes Put Churches at Risk

The Kelo decision which granted cities almost unlimited freedom to take private property from one party and give it to another will pose a grave risk to many churches around the country. My day job is handling the insurance needs of churches in San Diego County (CA). In my job I work with churches of all types and sizes, and from my nearly 7 years of experience driving around the county, I could easily name 20 or more churches that would be ripe for a city takeover under the Kelo decision.

Why? These are churches which sit on good-sized tracts of land in commercially desirable locations, but have few members. There are many churches who, for whatever reason, have not kept up with the changes in the church market and have seen their membership dwindle to a few dozen, usually senior citizen, members. The properties are paid for and many of these churches are able to make it financially by renting out part of their facilities to other congregations or schools. I can think of one church right now that has an 850 seat auditorium, a large 2-story educational unit, and about 40 members with an average age of 75. This church sits on a busy corner lot that would be perfect for some type of retail enterprise.

Under the doctrine espoused in Kelo, I could see the city coming in there an claiming that since this prime land currently benefits only a handful of people (and generates no tax revenue), that the city would be better off taking the property and allowing something to be built there that would benefit thousands of people and generate lots of tax money. It would be hard to argue against it on grounds other than private property rights, and those rights have basically been struck down by the court.

I don't think it will be long before church property becomes a prime hunting ground for city planners and developers looking to make a buck while angering relatively few voters. Unless the state legislature enacts a provision in the California constitution to prevent this, I don't see how it can be stopped.