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Emminent domain basically says that if the government determines it would be better for the public if the land were used for a different purpose, the government can seize that land (paying fair market price) and turn it over for that purpose.
It was really meant for things like building interstates. If someone didn't want to sell the land that I-40 had to pass through, the government could force them to sell it.
But it's been abused lately in cases such as this, and others. I remember one case I covered a few years ago where a hardware store wanted to build a bigger store, and needed to tear down a gift shop to do it. They managed to do it through emminent domain, which IMO was total bullshit. If the giftshop owner, who paid for his store and who invested a lot of money into making his store what it was doesn't want to sell, he shouldn't be forced to.
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