HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers are debating whether to let former landowners repurchase property that the state bought or took by eminent domain for highway projects, but now doesn’t need.

A bill pending before the Senate sets up a negotiating procedure in cases where the state determines it no longer needs the property — either because the project has changed or been canceled — and the former owner wants it back.

Opponents say the practice would limit the state’s construction options for the unfinished projects and set a poor precedent.

The bill was prompted by requests from people along Route 6 in eastern Connecticut, where a highway expansion proposal has changed and stalled several times since the 1960s.

Some people there are still renting their former properties from the state.

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