2017 legislative issues – Page 4 – InfoHive

TREND. Eminent Domain Moves to PopCulture.

2017- the year eminent domain went pop culture. Book reviewing Kelo, a film called Litle Pink House making the film festival circuit, and a play in Nebraska about eminent domain and a pipeline.

Small town hokey play? No. It was a finalist in 2016’s prestigious Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Competition

Omaha World Herald | Omahan’s play about pipeline battle will have its world premiere at Omaha Community Playhouse

Property Rights Reform Brewing in Wisconsin after US Supreme Court Ruling.

Wisconsin legislators are working to bolster the state’s Landowner Bill of Rights by:

Grandfathering substandard lots to prevent a Murr v. Wis. like ruking again
Prohibit the deemed merger of land
Ensure property owners can repair and maintain existing structures
Allow property owners to utilize inverse condemnation

The goals of the bill are prevent another Murr situation by ensuring that:

people in situations such as the Murrs’ can sell or develop land adjacent to land that they already…

Private Property Rights. Drone Law Requires Local Control Be Included. 5 Bits informed:intel.

Federal drone legislation seeks to provide this broad framework:

secretary of transportation would develop “civil unmanned aircraft policy framework”
harmonize time, place and manner from drone use

In addition to broad federal framework, it requires flexibility for local ordinances concerning:

more control over protecting residents’ privacy & property rights
create low-altitude speed limits
establish local no-drone zones

Drone Innovation Act | Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN)

Morning Consult…

Tree Ordinance Special Session = Cities Sue Texas? From the mouths of Buda

Hays County Free Press quoting Colin Strother, of the Buda Planning and Zoning Commission chairperson, says if a tree ordinance passes “municipalities might sue the state for intrusion.”

Hays County Free Press | Proposed bill may uproot local tree ordinances

Lege TREND. 2 Ways Belton TX Would Be Impacted by Annexation Bill + 1 End Run Around Annexation.

Belton, Texas City Manager says an annexation bull like 85R’s SB 715 would:

end annexation
if voluntary annexation were permitted it would:
- allow the city & the proposed annexation area to vote
- the carrot would be city utilitiies & services while the stick would be city taxes

Belton has used development agreements as a stop gap to halt annexation.

Temple Daily Telegram | Belton may be impacted by special session annexation bill

Private Property Rights. Mile High Governor Signs Most Comprehensive Asset Forfeiture Transparency law. Big Stick for Local Law Enforcement Included, Carrot not Included

Institute for Justice, private property legal advocates of Kelo fame, say Colorado’s HB 17-1313, is the nation’s most comprehensive asset forfetiture reform.

HB 17-1313 will:

Require biannual reporting of the type of property seized, place of the seizure (e.g. which direction on a highway), if any criminal charges were filed in relation to the seizure, if the forfeiture was contested, and the final disposition of the property;
Require agencies to report their forfeiture expenditures in…

3 Reasons for No Eminent Domain for Private Gain from a Paper Dating to 1896.

The Wilson Times (Wilson, N.C.) likens eminent domain by a private corporation to trying to buy heirloom tomatoes at a grocer by tossing some coins on the floor.

The Wilson Times sets out these 3 reasons opposing eminenbt domain by private companies:

When land men tell land owners that courts will rule in the corporation’s favor, that is an unauthorized practice of law by offering a legal opinion;
Companies reap profits forver from eminent domain while landowners have a lifetime of…

3 Points from a Texas Editorial. Trees & Property Rights. East Texas Says Follow the Houston Model.

A Tyler Morning Telegraph editorial supports:

The “Save or Trees” advocates neglect that tree ordinances are about “Save our Property Rights”
Senate Donna Campbell has it right- tree ordinances that control how property owners use their land is tantamount to a taking of property
Follow the Houston model and convert city owned lands to green spaces to prserve trees

Tyler Morning Telegraph | Editorial: We can protect trees and property rights at the same time

Private Property Rights. Tree Regulations make the 2017 Veto List.

Vetoed: SB 744 By Kolkhorst Relating to a tree planting credit to offset tree mitigation fees imposed by a municipality.

The Veto Statement Highlights:

Cities dictating trees is a “assault on provate property rights”
A compromise bill, like SB 744, cannot only offer ” a very minor restriction on some municipal tree ordinances”
state law shall not support “municipal micromanagement of private property”
” we can do better for private property owners in the upcoming special session”

SB 744…