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Legal trend: Eminent Domain Causes project Cost to Increase by 6 Times.

Where is this eminent domain case occurring? The San Benito County, California

What’s the project being built? bridge

What’s the impetus of the cost increase? Legal feees associated with eminent domain

What is the predicted cost increase? From $50,000 to acquire land to $300,000

Benito Link  | Eminent domain causes bridge construction legal costs to balloon

Private Property Rights: State vs. the Feds. 3 Things to Know about the Northern Border Property Rights Fight.

  • Land shifted along the Red River, as river banks do. This caused the state border to shift. The federal Bureau of Land Management stepped in to save the day and took control of 113 acres along the border.
  • 7 Texas landowners sued. GLO joined the suit to help the Texans.
    • Local county officials have also joined the lawsuit to help the Texas landowners.
  • The landowners ahve the blessing of conservatives like TPPF.

CBSDFW | Bush’s Texas Agency Joins Lawsuit Alleging Federal…

Deadline to Report Eminent Domain Power Fast Approaching. 5 Things to Know About Eminent Domain Transparency.

  • Online eminent domain database was created by SB 1812 (Kolkhorst & Geren)
  • All entities with eminent domain authority, public & private, can begin reporting on December 7th. The Form will be here. 
  • Deadline for reporting is February 1, 2016.
  • Comptroller recommends that entities with eminent domain authority designate one officer or employee as point of contact for current eminent domain information
  • 10 Pieces of Information will be online:
    • the entity’s full legal name;
    • the…

INTERIM SHARING ECONOMY: Private Property Rights: In an Airport Taxi Permit?

Who is claiming a property right in a permit? Taxi drivers that hold a permit to service DFW are claiming a property right in the taxi permit for DFW

How did this argument emerge? The DFW airport board amended its rules on ground transportation. Thereafter, the taxis sued Uber and Lyft.

The response from the sharing economy? There is no vested proeprty right in a permit to operate at DFW

Who will decide this dispute? A Dallas County Court

Courthouse News Service | Uber & Lyft Fight…

Quick Take Eminent Domain- Do the Required Condemner Funds in Escrow Belong to the Condemner or the Land Owner?

Background: In Florida to trigger quick take possession of land via eminent domain, the condeming entity has to deposit funds with the court.

Legal Fight Over Which Party Gets the Interest on Funds Held in an Eminent Domain case: 

  • The landowner wants the interest to fulfill the compensation owed
  • The Court of Appeals allowed 90% to be returned to the condemning entity

The Case:  Livingston v. Frank, 150 So. 3d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)

How is this relevant to Texas? The Texas Supreme…

Legal Trend: Eminent Domain at the Beach.

Background:

  • Gulf Breeze, Florida has a 50 foot wide, 15 feet long parcel that has been used fror beach access
  • The town wants to allow continued beach access, as it has for 50-60 years,  and seeks eminent domain
  • The 2 property owners involved counter and say that the city has failed to block access to private property

What the courts will look at:

  • Considering the long use of the property as beach acess, did the city acquire a legal easement?
  • If not, can eminent domain be used?

…

4 Ways a Legal Trend Pushed an Activism Movement that Forever Empowered Land Owners Against Pipelines.

  • Eminent Domain. Kelo. Lives. Limited Partnerships in pipeline development are still uneasy about access to land via eminent domain
  • Texas Rice Land Partners v. Denbury case empowered landowners to challenge pipelines
  • Legal Process means “significant legal costs and project delays”
  • Ted Cruz the face of Texas politics is no longer business conservatives but is a firebrand

Trib Talk  Bracewell & Giuliani | Obstacles to pipeline development highlight Texas’ conservative split

Golden State Supreme Court to Rule on Pre Condemnation Access. 3 Key Points & the Tie to Mexico Deregulated Market.

What’s the brouhaha? California Appellate Courts have split on how much pre condemnation access to property is permitted.

What’s the case awaiting oral argument in California? Property Reserve, Inc. v. Dep’t of Water Resources, No. S217738 Its about whether a water commission could enter lands for soil testing to further a water line.

Which way did the appellate court rule? The Court of Appeals sided with land owners that the pre-condemnation access was so extensive so as to trigger an…

Blight Fight via Tech. Low Cost Local Government Solution to Blight. 3 Things to Know.

How does a city figure out how many and which of its properties are blighted?

  • If the city is Mobile, Alabama, then it adopts Instagram
  • How did Mobile pay for this data driven blight program? 
    • Mobile won a three-year $1.65 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies
    • Created a municipal “innovation team,”
    • The innovation team is a handful of people who seek fresh, data-driven solutions to longstanding urban problems
  • What data does Mobile have on blight now?
    •  Old blight data…

Update to No Eminent Domain for Power Lines Legislative Trend. Counter Punch with Economic Boon.

To counter Arkansas’ Congressmen opposition to the Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission line, which would run through Arkansas but not provide electricity in Arkansas, an economic study was released.

Who authored the economic study?  the Center for Business and Economic Research at UA’s Sam M. Walton College of Business

What economic boon for Arkansas did the report show?

  • 30 month construction period
    • $182 million in labor income
    • $664 in economic output
    • 693 indirect and…