Johnston voters rejected eminent domain plan. Town says fight isn't over
JOHNSTON – On Nov. 3, voters in Johnston rejected a ballot measure to amend the town's charter to create a coherent pathway to exercise eminent domain, in response to a federal judge's rejection of attempts to take land slated for an income-restricted apartment complex. Despite that rejection, the Town Council president said the council will be going forward with plans to use eminent domain to take the 31-acre site off of George Waterman Road , relying on an alternative method following the defeat of the charter amendment at the ballot box. U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose ruled that the town's attempt to take property via its charter doesn't work, because the charter doesn't have sufficient provisions to pass constitutional muster, in an ongoing lawsuit filed by the property owners against the town, which the owners' lawyers call a "sham taking." The ballot initiative failed, 54% to 46%, or 4,761 votes against to 4,090 votes for, according to unofficial vote counts. In Johnston, 9,894 people voted , 41% of the 24,015 registered voters. What Johnston needs, either in its charter or for another process, per the federal judge who rejected the initial eminent domain efforts following a lawsuit by the site
