The same holds true frequently of small groups of buildings on the line of or in the neighborhood of a projected street improvement.
Where such a case presents itself, the Council of State does not hesitate today to authorize the taking of all the land and buildings in the area to be improved or of the groups of buildings, the demolition of which is required for sanitary reasons, and of the land on which they stand. While in such cases whatever is realized from the sale of such land goes in reduction of the cost of the improvement, the taking of the land is not primarily made for the purpose of effecting that saving, though it would be natural for the authorities, wherever such a saving had been made, to lay stress upon the fact as justifying the method adopted.
In considering the extended takings which have been made in European cities it is important in each case to ascertain whether or not the considerations which prompted the taking of more land than was apparently required for the proposed new streets did not relate primarily to the remedying of unsanitary conditions, as the opportunity which their laws afford of combining in one taking lands required for street purposes and those taken to remedy conditions inimical to public health is often availed of, and in such cases the actual importance of the sanitary considerations does not always clearly appear on the record.
EXCESS TAKING IN BRUSSELS, House Doc. No. 1096, pp. 10-16
In Belgium since 1867 cities have been permitted to take land by zones, as it is termed, either for the purpose of improving sanitary conditions or of improving the appearance of the city, and some of the most notable instances of the exercise of this power are found in Brussels, to satisfy whose needs the law was originally passed.
No limit is fixed by the law for the extent of these zones, and the city is not restricted to taking land within a certain distance of the new highway, as is the case in the Swiss and Italian laws for instance, but may take whatever seems advisable in order to accomplish the purposes for which the taking is made; but, again, the city is not permitted to be the sole judge of how extensive a taking shall be made.
After the city authorities have adopted the plan, the matter is submitted to the Council of the Province, which makes a separate examination of the question by an independent commission, and after both the city and provincial authorities have approved the plan, a royal decree, generally rendered on the report of the Ministers of Public Works and of the Interior, is necessary to authorize the taking.
It is evident that in the Belgian law two matters are united which with us have usually been kept entirely distinct, viz., takings in the interest of public health and takings for public improvement, in the sense of improving the appearance of the city; and a brief statement of the conditions which obtained in Brussels forty years ago will show how this naturally came to pass. (See pp. [122] ff. of this volume.)
So far from Brussels having concluded by reason of her trying experience that the taking of land by zones was an error, it is stated by those in authority that since she has had authority to take land in this way she has employed no other method; but, as has already been stated, it would appear that the objects she has in view in her takings, viz., the improvement not only of her highways but of the appearance and sanitary conditions of the city, can be attained in no other way.