Because it is there doesn't mean politicians have an obligation to use it. It has been used as a tool by the state to redistribute wealth. In this day and age ED is really no longer needed. It is imcompatible with private property.
The phrase "just compensation" is totally subjective and cannot realistically be determined by the state. Just compensation can only be determined by a willing seller and buyer.
If lands were taken for such reasons above, ( and latter ed was extended to use for railroads, then highways, etc.)once the "need" for the lands was over they were to go back to the original owner or his heirs.And if railroads were abandoned, these lands as well was to go back to the original landowner or heirs---not! Somebody came up with the "Rails to Trails" idea. I have gathered this history lesson form the Virginia State Archives and from Snowcrest Farms, that has a site devoted to land and it's distirbution!
I think you said in an earlier post, that ed got to rocking and rolling around 1954 with the law case you cited and I feel you are correct. Then came gross abuses and this resulted in part to the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act, though this slowed ED some, now it is worse than it has ever been because of the spread of Sustainable Communites, Urban sprawl, etc. I have a friend in NJ that is under threat of loosing her home and farm because it is the last one in her township! Why? To protect "open-spaces"!