Monthly Archives: March 2016

Private Property Rights: Drone Registrations. 2 Texas Companies.

Which texas companies were certified under the new drone certification system in Texas? HUVRdata (Austin) & Aviation Unmanned (Addison)

What entity does the drone certification? Texas A&M University System via its Corpus Christi campus and its engineering extension service

How is industry using drones?  wind-power, oil and gas and transportation industries to provide aerial inspections and mapping, and for port and border security and coastline monitoring

Houston Chronicle | First…

2 States Republican led Legislative and Regulatory Actions Kill Pipeline.

Which pipeline was scrapped citing legislative reasons? The Palmetto Pipeline set to run through South Carolina, Georgia and Florida

What caught the attention of the legislators and regulators? Whether a pipeline that traverses a state, without providing product to that state, can give the state a public benefit.

What was the action by the states on a legislative and regulatory level? Permits were denied & legislators paused the use of eminent domain by private entities so that the…

INTERIM. TX Senate State Affairs. Compensation. Eminent Domain. 1 Way to End Low Ball Offers. 2 Supporting Arguments.

How to end low ball offers by Texas A&M Real Estate Center: make condemning entities pay attorney fees if the court award is x% higher than the initial offer.

Why make condemning entities pay legal fees?

  • Paraphrasing Senator Nelson- these are unfair transactions, these sellers are not willing sellers.
  • Paraphrasing TXDOT testimony- when we go to court, we usually have to pay 26% more for the property. 

Dallas Morning News | Here’s how to end ‘lowballing’ in eminent domain property…

3 Steps to Use Eminent Domain to Bypass Restrictive Covenants

How does a condeming entity bypass a covenent that restricts railways on their property? 

  • Get your company designated as a common carrier by the TCEQ
  • If you’re a quarry in Texas and need to move rocks, have a relationship with a nearby rail
  • Have the railway use common carrier status to condemn land to “overcome restrictive covenants jointly entered by 43 property owners”

Tah, dah… Eminent domain by a private company in 3 steps thwarts restrictive covenants by land owners.

San Antonio…

Eminent Domain at heart of a FERC Denial. Lawyers Read the Tea Leaves. 3 Points Informed Intel.

Which FERC denial triggered a lawyer brainstorming session?  The denial of “Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P. (Jordan Cove) for authority under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to site, construct, and operate a facility at Coos Bay, Oregon, for the exportation, principally to Asia, of liquefied natural gas (LNG)”

What eminent domain issue to the lawyers point to? “the pipeline proposal’s impact on landowners and communities given the Pacific Connector’s need for eminent…

How one state representative's email impacts eminent domain for a water reservoir

Where did a state representative’s email cause a stir with a city council? Osceola Iowa

What did the representative say in this email? 

  • The state representative’s committee “has issues” with the reservoir
  • Raised a compromise of fixing 2 existing reservoirs in lieu of a new reservoir
  • The Rep. strongly opposes the use of eminent domain for the reservoir

Osceola Sentinel Tribune | Kaufmann email leaves city council rankled

2 Texas Eminent Domain Opponents that moved Dallas City Council to Make 5 New Eminent Domain Changes

What oppositions to eminent domain influenced new eminent domain protocols in Dallas?

  • Texas High Speed Rail’s “substantial muscle”
  • Marvin Nichols Reservoir’s “powerful East Texans have joined in the “no more bullying” cry”

How has Dallas City Council adapted its eminent domain protocols?

  • “delay the votes [ on  a waste water project eminent domain ] and instead demand that City Hall start doing business differently”
  • concerns over relocation costs, and adequate compensation to purchase…

Private Property Rights Trend: De-annexation

The Tennessee Legislature is considering a de-annexation bill.

What cities would be impacted? Memphis, Knoxville, Kingsport, and Chattanooga

Does this cost local governments revenue?  Yes, Memphis alone estimates a revenue loss of $27 million. 

What does the bill do?

  • Permits de-annexation votes
  • Upon annexation, a local government will see a reduction in state revenue based on the new annexed revenue base

Tennessee HB 411

WCYB | Tennessee legislature to take up controversial…

Legal Trend: The US Supreme Court Refuses 2 Eminent Domain Cases. What does that mean?

California Building Industry Association v. City of San Jose

  • Keeps in place the California Supreme Court ruling that an affordable housing ordinance is not a taking of a developer’s proeprty
  • It applies to developments of 20 more more units and requires 15% to be affordable

Beacon Resources Inc. v. W. Virginia DOT

  • A fight over the value of mineral rights. The state wants coal land. The satte wanted to ensure lost profits were not included. The court refused.
  • The case has been remanded…

Eminent Domain Sparks Mayoral Candidacy in Flower Mound

Which Flower Mound mayoral cnadiate was motivated by eminent domain? Janvier Scott

What is her eminent domain tale? Flower Mound took her property in 2015 and use that property for othr private businesses.

What does she say about the eminent domain process?

  • “extremely financially and emotionally expensive”
  • “not something I would want for any other resident”
  • “I know what it is like to be bullied by our town officials”

The Leader | Scott looks to protect Flower Mound’s resources