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City in Rust Belt Votes Down Pipeline. 2 Takeaways.

The city:  Bowling Green, Ohio

The city council vote:  7 to 0 to deny right of way access for a pipeline in the city

The takeaways:

  • Offering to follow existing easements isn’t enough to get around a growing sentiment of no eminent domain for private gain
  • The pipeline may now exercise eminent domain against the city

The Toledo Blade | Bowling Green council votes down pipeline plan

 

Private Property Rights. Inverse Condemnation for the Birds.

How was Florida land effecively taken by regulation? By first limiting development to 1 house per acre, then 1 house per 10 acres, and finally by designating the land a bird rookery. 

What’s happening with the land now?

  • Heirs to the original land owners continue the legal battle
  • The Florida Supreme Court could rule next
  • Legal foundation attorneys representing the landwoners vow to fight to the U.S. Supreme Court

Florida Watchdog | Family asks Florida high court to lift bird ban on…

Land Use. Municipal Management District Recommendations for 2017.

The Senate IGR Interim Committee Report has a laundry list of municipal management district (MMD) reforms. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Notices to create a MMD must be before legislation is considered
    • This is a change in committee policy
  • New MMDs that overlap also require notice to TCEQ
    • This is a change in committee policy
  • If property owners are annexed into an existing MMD, notice needs to be the same as when the MMD is created
  • New MMDs should ahve a 2nd notice when the new MMD…

Annexation Recommendations from IGR.

IGR Interim Committee Report skips specific recommendations and offers 15 broad recommendations for handling local governments:

  • The legislature should consider providing consistency and eliminating the possibility of variances by strengthening the uniformity in ordinance procedures and standards.

  • The legislature should improve transparency and find a more appropriate balance between drafting ordinances and providing ordinance information to voters by supporting reforms that…

3 Recommendations for Eminent Domain Reform. Senate State Affairs.

Senate State Affairs Committee Interim Report offers the following recommendations for eminent domain reform:

  • Property Owner must be fairly compensated. Offers are often unfair, below market.
  • Property owners must be able to recover all or a portion of the costs that they incur
  • Amend the landowner bill of rights to:
    • clarify that some property may be included that the condemnor has no legal authority to condemn
    • offers should separate property that the condmenor wants to purchase and an…

Eminent Domain as Blight Leverage? Lessons from a Peachy City

the City: Savannah Georgia

What legislative change does Savannah want?

  • To Charge a blight tax

What do local community leaders want to help blight?

  • To be allowed to use eminent domain to enourage property owners to clean up properties as a way to help the property owners who live near the eyesores.

WTOC 11 | Savannah leaders looking at eminent domain to address chronically blighted property