BRENTWOOD, Mo. – Businesses in Brentwood have their day in court against the City of Brentwood. Multiple businesses have sued the city to stop the city’s blight declaration of a stretch of Manchester Road.

Carter Maier’s Convergence Dance and Body Center sits on that stretch.

“We love being in Brentwood. We love working in Brentwood. We love being a part of the business community in Brentwood,” Maier said.

Feather Craft Fly Fishing has been around for 40 years. It has also been blighted. The owner of that building says he has only ever had one code violation.

“It was the height of the grass because the lawncare company missed it one week. We remedied it immediately. I actually cut it personally with my lawn mower,” property owner Anthony George said.

There are about 75 properties on the blighted part of Manchester from Mary Ave. to Hanley. Rd. There are some vacant properties with boarded up windows, overgrown plants and holes in the siding. But several of the properties are also well kept and open for business.

“If that’s allowed to stand as the definition of blight, that basically means the government can take any property using eminent domain solely because it’s a little older or it may need a fresh coat of paint,” Bobbi Taylor, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, who is representing the plaintiffs, said.

If the city gets its way, it could use eminent domain to buy the land and use it for a $436 million redevelopment, including a hotel, office and residential space.

“We were just there yesterday, on a Sunday, doing some minor repairs and some maintenance work. We definitely don’t think our business needs to be torn down and replaced,” Maier said.

The trial is scheduled to last four days. The city did not respond to a FOX 2 News request for comment. A previous blight report points to chipped paint, damaged parking lots and other signs of decay. During court Monday, attorneys also highlighted the area’s history with flooding.