Monthly Archives: July 2018

Local TREND. Short Term rental Ordinance Revamp in a Tourist Town. 3 Strikes & You're OUT

Tourist Town: Carlsbad, CA

Short Term Rental Ordinance Revisions:

  • excluding timeshares & RVs
  • incorporating an Impact Response Plan, requiring neighbor notification
  • parking on site requirement
  • Adding a 3 strikes, within 24 months, is a 36 month permit revocation

The Coast News Group | Carlsbad amends short-term vacation rental ordinance

Lege TREND. Extending ban on eminent domain for unregulated & deregulated private companies

In 2018, South Carolina legislators extended the ban on the use of eminent domain by private pipeline companies.

The ban continues until November 20,2020 while a panel makes recommendations whether whether unregulated utilities should have any of the eminent domain powers that regulated utilities have.

Lege TREND. Deny funding for using eminent domain in certain ways. Carrot and Stick? Stick and Stick?

The House passed a bipartisan HR 189 (115th Congress)  that denies federal funds if a state or political subdivision uses eminent domain for economic development purposes. 

Congessman Goodlatte | Goodlatte Applauds House Passage of Legislation to Limit the Abuse of Eminent Domain

Local TREND. Property Rights. Noise from Industry.

City: MicKinney, TX

Noise Ordinance Revision Background: Noise from 3 concrete plants, located in residential or “quiet zones”,   sparked a cry from residents to revise the city’s noise ordinance

The amendments to the McKinney TX noise ordinance:

  • Extending distance requirements from 500 to 1000 feet “Specific noise disturbances prohibited: Power Equipment. Operating or permitting to be operated any power equipment (as defined herein and excluding construction equipment which is specifically…

Eminent Domain + Duty to Maintain Transmission Lines + Wildfires = Rate Increase?

The California Public Utility Commission denied a rate increase for San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s request to bill ratepayers for a 2007 fire.

How much did San Diego want to pass on to customers?  $379 million in costs

Why was the rate increase denied? A court found SDG&E didn’t properly trim trees near transmission lines

What’s the bargain in California when eminent domain is granted? In exchange for the power of eminnt domain, CA utilities are responsible for paying damages if their…

3 Points. Institute for Justice Against Pipelines and Eminent Domain. +1 Solution

Institute for Justice lays out these 3 points arguing eminent domain absue by pipelines:

  • “FERC presides over a system that strips property owners of their rights without courts”
  • FERC dawdles and property owners have access to courts blocked
  • Pipelines can unfairly start cutting down trees even before state permits are granted, with an example from NY of 500 trees cut down on a family farm for a project that was never permitted

the Solution: real judicial review, in a court, before proepty is…

Local TREND. Data Collection By Short Term Rentals. Where. What. Who.

Where: NYC new ordinance on short term rentals

Who does NYC’s data collection requirement apply to? Short Term Rental Platforms

What information will short term rental platforms, like Airbnb, have to collect?

  • Name, physical address, email, Airbnb profile URL, and phone number of hosts active that month
  • Addresses and URLs of any properties a given host rents out, and whether it was a full-home or partial-home rental
  • Total days the property was rented, rent/price paid, and any fees collected…

Local Trend. +1 City Limits Short Term Rentals to Owner Owned Property. 3 Supporting Arguments.

City: San Diego

Ordinance limits short term rentals to:

  • owner’s primary residence
  • +1 additional dwelling unit on the same parcel

3 Supporting Arguments from City Council Supporters:

  • Not elected to support investors
  • Elected to support constituents
  • Its a compromise, that isn’t perfect, but it “protects neighborhood quality of life through increased oversight and enforcement”

Times of San Diego | City Council Limits Short-Term Rentals to Owner’s Primary Residence

Legal TREND and Lege TREND. Are Statutory Distance Requirements a Taking?

The distance requirement at issue: Prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1000 feet from a school

What did the Georgia Supreme Court say? If a child care center opens near a registered sex offenders residence, yes it is a taking. 

Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections,653 S.E.2d 740 (Ga. 2007)