 A dentist in Arnold named Homer Tourkakis has been fighting off an eminent domain attempt at taking his dental clinic and has become, in the process, something of a small town hero.
The city wanted the land so that THF Realty could build a shopping area that would include a Lowe's, Dierberg's, Office Depot and other stores. For the $78 million project, THF was being given $30 million in government subsidies and tax increment financing. Even with that much of a leg up, though, THF wanted one more advantage: the right to take the land of several nearby businesses.
Tourkakis felt that being forced to give up his land was wrong and filed a lawsuit against the city of Arnold and THF for trying to take the building where his dental practice has been located for 22 years. He has been heartened by community reaction:
According to Tourkakis, his dental patients and the city's general population have continued to support him.
"They don't feel that private property should be transferred to another for profit," Tourkakis said.
The basis of Tourkakis' legal challenge was that the state constitution allows only cities with a constitutional charter (that's only the biggest cities: St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield) to take land by eminent domain. The circuit court found that a convincing argument and ruled in his favor last May. Circuit judge M. Edward Williams ruled that a third class city did not have the constitutional authority to take the property even if it had been blighted--which, of course, it wasn't.
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