A Georgia cattle farmer faces losing 225 of his family’s 450 acres to eminent domain; century-old pecan trees were cleared for a proposed 730-acre airport

Jeff Melin has spent his life tending the 450-acre cattle farm that he and his family call home in Spalding County, Georgia. The county is seeking to take 225 of Jeff's acres, and it does not need his permission. According to AgWeb, Jeff's family has had their land for nearly eighty years, though the pecan grove on the property includes trees that appear to predate the family's ownership, having likely been planted by an earlier owner of the land. County, state, and federal authorities have partnered to build a new airport that would cut through his land, replacing pastureland and a century-old pecan grove with a runway for corporate and private jets. This is a reminder that eminent domain can also apply to farms and to land held by families for generations.

The county's plan for Melin's land

According to AgWeb, the proposed project is a 730-acre airport with a runway expected to be around 6,000 feet long and 124 hangars. Construction is estimated to begin in 2026, with initial site work, including clearing of trees along the grove's edge, already underway, and full completion targeted for 2031. A small public airport is also located several miles from the proposed project. Thus, the new airport will handle significantly more traffic than the existing one and will primarily serve corporate and private aircraft rather than commercial flights.


The legal basis for the taking

Eminent domain allows governments to take private land for public use, with just compensation to landowners. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment establishes this constitutional right, and Kelo v. City of New London further interpreted its application. According to Utah's Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman, the US Supreme Court ruled in that case that eminent domain may be used to transfer land for private economic development so long as the project serves a public purpose, effectively broadening what counts as "public use" under the Fifth Amendment.

As a result, governments may now be able to justify taking private farmland to build airports. The process of acquiring land from private owners involves the Federal Aviation Administration's Order 5100.37B, issued August 1, 2005, which governs land acquisition and relocation assistance for airport projects. Counties must comply with FAA Order 5100.37B when acquiring land from private owners to construct airports, even when owners object.

The pecan trees came down first as construction began

For Melin, the first sign that it was no longer just a plan came when trees went down. He said pecan trees more than a century old at the edge of his grove were already gone, replaced by concrete poles for the power lines. Melin said he also had a tight deadline to clear out a shop full of decades' worth of farm equipment and had to reduce his cattle herd long before the airport was finished. For a working farm, this was not just a paperwork issue; it changed what the operation could produce and sustain in the meantime.

A shrinking supply of farmland lies behind one dispute

Melin's case reflects a broader pattern. The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service tracks national trends in land-use change through its National Resources Inventory, which has documented a long-term shift of farmland and open space into developed land across the country. Airports, roadways, and residential and commercial developments all contribute to the loss of arable land, which is generally lost forever once it is paved or graded.

The land Melin says will not come back

Melin has said the airport will leave him with land on both sides of a runway that did not exist a few years ago, on a parcel that is more isolated and less suited to operating as a single, unified cattle and pecan operation. Whatever compensation he receives will not replace a century-old pecan grove or restore his family homestead to its former shape. His real problem is the loss of control over land-use decisions that will reshape his farm.