Concerning the unending debate over the West Fayetteville Bypass and its many tentacles: The founders never intended this kind of abuse when they wrote the 5th Amendment, which in part says, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
You simply cannot reason that building luxury condos (or useless roads) is a public use with a straight face.
Public use is generally defined as a use that benefits the public not specific individuals.
In recent years, local, Board of Education and state officials have argued that a use that delivers more tax dollars to the government constitutes public use. If that’s the case, do we really have private property rights at all anymore?
Michael Meyer
Fayetteville, Ga.
