Eminent Domain Issues

September 2012 – October 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flight 93 site ruled off limits to mining
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
11, 2001, have been taken by eminent domain, but the rights to the coal underneath the land have been a point of contention. A federal judge sided with the U.S. government last week, holding that Svonavec Inc. did not have a right to mine the coal ...
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Town is still in deadlock with family over land for sewer project
Hennesseyclipper
Progress on an EPA-mandated sewer lagoon expansion project on Cemetery Rd. hit another log-jam, so the town board hired an eminent domain law firm in a special meeting Wed., Oct. 10. The town has acquired a 20 ft. wide by 304.54 ft. long easement on ...
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Family challenging eminent domain use for Peotone airport
nwitimes.com
The family wishes to keep their land, but a lawsuit filed by the Illinois Department of Transportation seeks to take the land by use of eminent domain. Bill Ryan, a Chicago-based attorney, said he filed legal motions last week seeking to have a judge ...
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AG candidate Mark Obenshain stumps for constitutional amendment
News Virginian
This is why adding a state constitutional amendment to the ballot next month that defines the conditions for exercising eminent domain of property, while providing just compensation for taking the property, is a priority of his. Obenshain, R ...
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Pipeline company gets chilly reception
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
In North Huntingdon, residents immediately questioned whether Sunoco could claim eminent domain along the pipeline's path -- a source of confusion and then frustration for many. "Under what jurisdiction do you have the right to condemn my property to ...
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Bristol, Va., misusing eminent domain
TriCities.com
In Kelo v. New London, in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments can seize private property, under the principals of eminent domain, for other private businesses to develop; Prior to this eminent domain, for other private businesses to ...
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READER'S VIEWS: Vote yes on Question 1 Nov. 6
Culpeper Star Exponent
There's already a law on the books in the Virginia that stops the government from using its power of eminent domain to take someone's home or farm or business simply because someone else wants to develop the land, but that's merely a law, and if the ...
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Thoughts on the Virginia Eminent Domain Reform Referendum Question Ilya Somin • October 16, 2012 4:24 pm

Various people have asked me what I think of Virginia Question 1, the eminent domain reform referendum question that will be on the ballot in November. Question 1 is one of many eminent domain reform referendum questions developed as part of the political backlash against the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London (2005), which ruled that the Constitution allows government to take property from one private owner to another on the grounds that doing so might promote “economic development.”

Virginia is one of 44 states that have enacted eminent domain reform legislation since Kelo. The most recent is Mississippi, where voters passed Measure 31 last year. Restrictions on eminent domain were long overdue because economic development and blight takings often victimize property owners for the benefit of powerful interest groups, and actually destroy more economic value than they create.

My bottom-line take on Question 1 is that it is a clear improvement over the status quo, but still has some flaws. As I discussed here, Virginia’s present Constitution is one of the worst in the country when it comes to property rights. Article 1, Section 11 allows government to condemn property for virtually any reason authorized by the legislature. If the voters pass Question 1, that will change.

Unlike many states that have enacted post-Kelo “reform” legislation that doesn’t really constrain eminent domain, Virginia’s state legislature has already enacted a fairly strong reform law through the legislative process, which I briefly described in my article surveying post-Kelo reform in all the states. But a constitutional amendment constraining eminent domain is still valuable because statutory reforms could easily be eroded over time as public attention shifts to other issues, and powerful interest groups lobby the legislature to allow takings that benefit them.

Unfortunately, there are some potential flaws in the proposed Amendment’s wording that make it less effective than it could be. Question 1 would change the state Constitution to forbid takings “the primary use is for private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development, except for the elimination of a public nuisance existing on the property.” The amendment also has some valuable provisions forbidding the condemnation of more property than is necessary for the “public use” justifying the taking, increasing compensation for owners of condemned property, and specifying that the right to private property is “fundamental” (which usually triggers a higher degree of judicial protection when the right is threatened).

This is a clear improvement over the status quo. But it leaves the door open for “blight” condemnations enacted under a broad definition of “blight.” In many states, post-Kelo reform has been undermined by blight condemnation laws that define blight so broadly that almost any area can be declared blighted and condemned. It is not clear whether Question 1′s ban on takings takings for “private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development” covers blight condemnations adopted under an extremely broad definition of “blight.” If the legislature ever broadens Virginia’s relatively narrow post-Kelo blight law, the courts will have to decide whether that is compatible with Question 1. I think there would be plausible arguments on both sides.

Moreover, even takings enacted under a narrow definition of “blight” are often problematic, because they tend to victimize poor and politically weak communities for the benefit of influential interest groups. There are better ways to improve blighted areas than condemning the neighborhood in order to save it. Indeed, stronger protection for property rights might well promote economic development in poor areas rather than hinder it.

Finally, the fact that Question 1 only bans takings whose “primary” use is “private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development,” could potentially allow local governments to slip such takings in through the back door by arguing that economic development is tied to some other goal. Much may depend on how the courts interpret the meaning of “primary.”

Like most other post-Kelo referendum measures, Question 1 will probably pass easily. The vast majority of the public hates the Kelo decision and economic development takings. The only post-Kelo referendum initiatives that have ever failed were three that tied bans on economic development takings to other, less popular proposals, such as abolishing rent control. By contrast, over a dozen relatively “clean” post-Kelo reform initiatives have passed easily.

Question 1 will probably pass as well. Because it is a clear improvement over the status quo, I’m going to vote for it myself. The best should not be the enemy of the good. But Virginians should not imagine that passing this amendment will create an iron-clad safeguard against abusive takings in this state. http://www.volokh.com/2012/10/16/thoughts-on-the-virginias-eminent-domain-reform-referendum-question/

 

 

 

 

Atty: MTOTSA case headed to state Supreme Court

Appellate court upholds lower court ruling on four beachfront properties

BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer  OCT 18, 2012

LONG BRANCH — The legal pursuit of just compensation for their beachfront properties will lead a group of property owners to the state Supreme Court, their attorney said Monday.  Peter Wegener, attorney for four property owners in the city’s Beachfront North II zone, said he plans to petition the New Jersey Supreme Court following the Oct. 11 Appellate Division ruling in favor of the city of Long Branch. “We are extremely disappointed to read the opinion from the Appellate Division, which, frankly, failed to engage the arguments that we presented,” said Wegener, of Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf, Lakewood.  Continued at ……

http://atl.gmnews.com/news/2012-10-18/Front_Page/Atty_MTOTSA_case_headed_to_state_Supreme_Court.html

 

 

 

Court sides with NJ town in eminent domain dispute
abc27 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Oct 16, 2012 10:59 AM EDT A New Jersey appeals court has denied an attempt by homeowners in Long Branch to get additional compensation from the city in a long-running eminent domain dispute.

Several homeowners sought the money even though the city had eventually abandoned its attempts to acquire their property and other properties as part of a redevelopment effort dating back to the late 1990s.

The homeowners claimed the city's actions nevertheless lowered their property values and made it more difficult to sell the properties.

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http://www.abc27.com/story/19832337/court-sides-with-nj-town-in-eminent-domain-dispute

 

 

 

 

Eminent domain: Point/Counterpoint | RoundTable - roanoke.com
Eminent domain is one of those issues that has been the subject of consideration over the past decade. Much of the concern on the part of property owners is the ...
blogs.roanoke.com/.../eminent-domain-pointcounterpoint-2/

 

 

 

 

Long Branch eminent domain: Plaintiffs mull petition to state Supreme Court
Dailyrecord.com
LONG BRANCH — Despite losing their case in an appeals court for compensation last week, the attorney for a group of Long Branch homeowners in an eminent domain case against the city, says the fight is not over. “You hope that justice will be upheld.
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Sunoco pipeline from Houston-Delmont may use eminent domain ...
Sunoco officials told about 85 residents on Wednesday that the company can use eminent domain to install a proposed pipeline under their land but it hopes not ...
triblive.com/.../sunoco-pipeline-route-areas-mcginn-residents-...

 

 

 

Court sides with Long Branch in eminent domain case
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com
Eminent domain hits a Long Branch neighborhood Lou Anzalone, one of the Long Branch home owners, stands to lose his home to eminent domain. Residents of a neighborhood slated to be razed for an oceanfront redevelopment project in Long Branch will ...
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Protecting land and people
Staunton News Leader
The proposed change in state law for how governments can use eminent domain might not have kept the state from handing the Vincents money for their land at a price state officials determined to make way for Route 262. However, language in the proposal ...
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Developers call city's Point Breeze eminent domain move a land grab
A BATTLE IS BREWING in Point Breeze between private developers and the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, which plans to acquire dozens of ...
www.philly.com/.../20121010_Developers_call_city_s_Point_...

 

 

 

 

REAL ESTATE C.A.R. says no to eminent domain | Breaking News | PE ...
The trade group votes to back any legislation proposed to a government bailout of underwater loans.
www.pe.com/.../20121008-real-estate-c.a.r.-says-no-to-eminen...

 

 

 

Hostile Eminent Domain Session at Realtor Event
Mortgage Daily
A proposal to seize non-agency mortgages through the process of eminent domain could earn a Southern California community $35 million, according to participants in a closed-door public policy forum held at a state Realtor convention last week. The ...
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Eminent domain issue to appear on Virginia ballots - WTOP.com
While many people are focused on the presidential race this November, there are other issues on the ballot that Virginians might not know about.
www.wtop.com/.../Eminent-domain-issue-to-appear-on-Virgin...

 

 

 

Eminent Domain - Salon.com
As Nation of Change reported, however, the issue of eminent domain is especially complicated ...
www.salon.com/topic/eminent_domain/

 

 

 

Eminent domain and failed urban renewal in the 1960s
Staunton News Leader
In the early 1960s, the post-World War II fad of “urban renewal” hit the neighborhood just north of Staunton's Frederick Street — and the power of eminent domain cleared the way to raze three blocks. The Staunton Housing and Development Authority ...
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Judge hears Bloomfield eminent domain case
NorthJersey.com
A judge heard oral arguments Thursday regarding Bloomfield Township's eminent domain attempt at the Bloomfield Train Station. Attorneys argued over Bloomfield's attempted eminent domain of the Bloomfield Train Station on Thursday. FILE PHOTO ...
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Texas Landowners Seek To Block Keystone's Eminent Domain ...
A group of Texas landowners on Thursday urged a state appeals court to reverse a lower court's determination that it had jurisdiction to consider an eminent ...
www.law360.com/.../texas-landowners-seek-to-block-keystone...

 

 

 

TransCanada's Keystone Wins Right to Take Pipeline Land
Businessweek
State judge Tom Rugg Sr. granted the pipeline company's requests to take possession of the tracts under state eminent- domain laws after a hearing today in Beaumont, Texas. “The statutory requirements for the issuance of writs of possession are now met ...
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'This Arena is a Gentrifying Machine': Atlantic Yards Critics Rally at Barclays
Patch.com
However, the war against what longtime Atlantic Yards redevelopment critics called the systematic abuse of eminent domain, public subsidies for private projects and broken promises in terms of jobs and affordable housing, continues. That was the ...
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Charter amendment sets blighted land requirements to limit Columbia's eminent ...
Columbia Missourian
COLUMBIA — A proposed charter amendment would prevent the city from using the power of eminent domain to acquire a property for development, unless it was blighted. The amendment, which will be formally addressed by the Columbia City Council on ...
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The Case Against Using Eminent Domain to Acquire - Reason Online
Reason is a libertarian monthly print magazine covering politics, culture, and ideas through a provocative mix of news, analysis, commentary, and reviews.
reason.com/blog/2012/09/24/the-case-against-using.../print

 

 

 

 

Barclays Center Hit With 'Eminent Domain Abuse' Light Graffiti ...
Protesters are trying to outshine the Barclays Center's crazy LED-studded exterior. Last night, Occupy Wall Street co-opted the side of the building with some ...
ny.curbed.com/.../barclays_center_hit_with_eminent_domain_...

 

 

 

 

City's Exercise of Right of Eminent Domain Challenged by Local Business Owners
Up & Coming Weekly
Eminent domain is broadly understood as the power of the state to seize private property without the owner's consent. Historically, the most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are public facilities, highways and railroads. Traditionally ...
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Eminent domain
Southeast Texas Record
pipelinespaghetti.jpg. Golden Triangle Properties is asking the courts to declare that Williams Field Services-Gulf Coast Co. does not have eminent domain powers in a proposed pipeline extension. Read More » · Eminent domain, News, Texas Supreme ...
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Board Votes to Support Eminent Domain Amendment
Patch.com
On Tuesday, Prince William became the largest locality in Virginia—and the only one in Northern Virginia—to support a state constitutional amendment that would restrict the use of eminent domain. The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 7 ...
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Freeport reaches deal to buy land near train stop; eminent domain takeover ...
Bangor Daily News
FREEPORT, Maine — The town avoided the use of eminent domain to take property necessary for creating access to Freeport's new Amtrak train station. Instead, the town council on Tuesday unanimously approved a purchase-and-sale agreement with Timm ...
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Farmers Challenge Keystone Pipeline Over Eminent Domain
NewsMax.com
Landowners opposing Keystone XL argued in a state appellate court in Beaumont today that TransCanada doesn't meet the definition of a “common carrier” under a 2011 Texas Supreme Court ruling and shouldn't be allowed to use state eminent-domain ...
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Prince William supervisors vote to support limiting eminent domain
Inside NoVA
Prince William Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, met little resistance to his resolution to support a Virginia constitutional amendment to limit eminent domain. The amendment, which was passed during two sessions of the Virginia Assembly and will ...
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Caltrans settles lawsuit with San Bernardino business over eminent domain
San Bernardino Sun
They had claimed the business was entitled to $1.89 million, according to John Murphy of Costa Mesa-based Murphy & Evertz LLP, Bigart's attorney. "This is another indication of the unintended consequences of eminent domain," said Murphy, a prominent ...
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Eminent Domain for Private Use Approved in Somerville ...
By John K. Ross
On Tuesday, aldermen in Somerville Mass. approved an urban renewal plan that calls for the use of eminent domain for private development in a 117-acre.
Hit & Run

 

 

Eminent domain ballot issue flies under radar in Virginia
Washington Examiner
Instead, eminent domain cases would be limited to public use, such as building a highway. But the constitutional amendment also expands how the state defines "just compensation" to include "lost profit" and "lost access." That means localities could be ...
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Poll: Virginians Favor Limits On Eminent Domain
Conservatives and independents have railed against eminent domain abuse, especially after the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo that said it was constitutional ...
www.breitbart.com/.../VA-Poll-Proposed-Constitutional-Amen...

 

 

 

Cities Weighing Mortgage Seizures Draw Attention in Washington ...
FHFAhas concerns about the use of eminent domain to revise existing financial contracts ... The eminent domain programs in question are atrocious corruptive ...
www.bloomberg.com/.../cities-weighing-mortgage-seizures-dr...

 

 

 

Alarmed Durham Property Owners Offered Crash Course in Negotiating Eminent ...
Sacramento Bee
18, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- As the NC DOT begins knocking on the doors of people in the path of the controversial East End Connector, the NC Eminent Domain Law Firm will host an informational meeting to educate property owners of their rights and offer ...
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Prince William County chairman supports amendment limiting eminent domain
Washington Post
Prince William County Chairman Corey A. Stewart introduced a resolution Tuesday backing a state constitutional amendment that supporters say will strengthen property rights and curtail eminent domain. Stewart (R-At Large) proposed the resolution at the ...
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