NORFOLK – To some, the rows of dust-covered windshields, the wrecked cars stacked like cookies and the grills that dangle from the ceiling of Downtown Used Auto Parts are the ingredients of a junkyard.

But for the Andrews family, which has been associated with the business for the past dozen years, it has become much more: It provides a service to the community and has become a family tradition encompassing three generations.

Charles Andrews Jr., his son Andy and his grandson Charles IV, joined about 40 family, friends and patrons Tuesday and quietly protested the Norfolk Redevelopment Housing Authority's attempted takeover of the property at 316 E. 22 nd St.

Andy Andrews claims the family property, which neighbors a Mid-Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Co. plant, is being seized for extra parking space for the bottling facility.

That would be an improper use of eminent domain, argues his lawyer, Joseph T. Waldo of Waldo & Lyle. Andrews and his father are contesting the condemnation action, and a trial has been set for November.

“The only reason it's being taken is to satisfy Coca-Cola,” Waldo said. “That's an abuse. It's not a public purpose.”

Under eminent domain, a government entity can purchase a private property for its market value and use it for a public purpose.

Across the nation, the use of eminent domain has become a heated topic, as public entities have attempted to condemn property and allot it to private developers rather than using it for schools, parks and other public places, as traditionally done.

“At the moment, it is a national issue, and people are concerned about it because there have been cases throughout the country that people think are an abuse of eminent domain,” said Del. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk, who attended the second of the two protests Tuesday in front of the bottling plant.

Drake has proposed legislation that would restrict a government agency from condemning land and then giving it to a private group. A subgroup of the Virginia Housing Study Commission will soon review her proposal.

“I don't think taking someone's business that can't be replaced is truly a public purpose when what you're doing is turning around and leasing the property back to another business,” Drake said.

It would be difficult to relocate the six-employee used auto parts business because of Norfolk's zoning laws, she said.

It's not certain that the land will be used by Coca-Cola, said Don Schultz, an attorney representing the housing authority. Though negotiations are serious, “there's a difference between negotiations and actually having solid, enforceable agreements,” he said.

Schultz said that even if the land is offered to the bottling plant, turning it over to a private owner is still a proper use of eminent domain.

“Virginia law is very clear that not only is it allowable, it's actually appropriate,” Schultz said.

He added that before Coca-Cola's interest in the property, NRHA had plans to take the land the auto parts store occupies. In a 1988 Mid-Town Industrial Conservation Project plan, the area was described as deteriorating and in need of revitalization. It had been a scrapyard for dozens of years.

“What we're doing primarily is eliminating blight,” said Bernard A. Pishko, the Norfolk city attorney. “Whether it will be sold to another private entity is not now know.”

It wasn't until more than a decade after the 1988 plan that the city could fit the purchase of Downtown Used Auto Parts in its budge, Schultz said.

The Andrews family purchased the 1.3-acre lot in 1997 for about $300,000 after leasing the business since 1992. NRHA is offering $560,000 – the parcel's appraised value. The money will come out of the city's capital improvement fund.

To Andy Andrews, that's not nearly enough.

“With the lousy money they're offering us, we couldn't even buy a house in the projects after it's all over,” Andrews said, noting the costs of his attorneys and dealing with the inventory.

“Me and my father wanted my son to be able to have a business and take care of his family,” Andrews said, referring to Charles IV, who grew up playing and working in the business. Now 15, he sells engines, brake lights and other miscellaneous items at the store in his free time.

The family remains optimistic.

“I haven't even thought about losing,” said Charles Andrews Jr., the father and grandfather. “We're going to be here for our grandkids and great-grandkids.”