Category Archives: compensation

8 Property Rights Points from Rural Land Owners. Pipelines from Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf.

A lawyer representing rural landowners writes:

  • Private for-profit companies are given the government’s power to take private property under assumptions that this is good, common good
  • Are we rubber stamping common good projects for public use/benefit?
  • Why are we taking land before the process is approved by the courts?
  • We need to look at the costs and benefits of eminent domain
  • What happens to old pipelines and how does this get factored into the costs and benefits?
  • Landowners are in an…

Eminent Domain Compensation. How Does a Private taking By a Pipeline Differ from Wind or Solar Energy?

A taking of private land by a private company for a pipeline results in no compensation from royalties, unlike a taking of property for solar or wind energy

CWB Radio | Clark County Board of Supervisors Approves Resolution Asking Wisconsin to Review Eminent Domain Laws

Property Rights. Beach Access. Repercussions in Florida.

In response to changes in beach access in Walton County Florida, a letter to the editor by G. Brint Ryan offers:

  • “allow public beachgoers to trespass on real estate”
  • “The county’s claims that they can simply identify a beach and deem it suitable for public use without fair compensation for the actual property owners are two-faced and un-American.”
  • “County officials are double dipping on the use of beachfront property at the expense of the people who have invested in their county”

Raises 4…

Local TREND. County Resolution Calling for Statewide Eminent Domain Reform. Pipeline Edition

Where: Clark Co. Wisconsin

The resolution is in respopnse to: Enbridge Energy Company’s desire to increase oil capacity traveling through their pipeline system

The rational for changing eminent doamin laws for private companies:

  • A taking of private land by a private company because property owners  receive no royalties, unlike for solar or wind energy
  • Taking property for pipelines greatly reduces property values and tax base

CWB Radio | Clark County Board of Supervisors Approves Resolution…

Compensation in the Bitterroot State Constitution

State: Montana

What phrases does the Montana Constitution use for compensation for a taking by the power of eminent domain?

  •  “full extent of the loss having been first made to or paid into court for the owner.”
  • “just compensation shall include necessary expenses of litigation to be awarded by the court when the private property owner prevails.”

Key phrase Shorthand? Attorney fees, court costs, and full extent of the loss

Montana Constitution Article II, Section 29  

Compensation for Laws & Regulations That Reduce Property Value. Anatomy of a Constitutional Amendment:

Colorado Farm Bureau is proposing Initiative 108 that will amend the Colorado Constitution to:

  • “ensure property owners are properly compensated if new laws or regulations negatively impact the value of their property”

What is the catalyst? tightening of setbacks on oil and gas development from fracking proliferation

How does the tightening of oil and gas setbacks impact farmers?  Setbacks essentially eliminate oil and natural gas development & farmers rely on royalty checks

Journal Advocate…

Local Ordinance. Requires 3rd Party Appraisals for Local Government Land Transactions with 2 Exceptions

Philadelphia Pennsylvania City Council is poised to require that all local government property transactions require a third party appraisal to determine the value of the property.

The bill makes 2 exceptions:

  • land taken by eminent domain
  • sheriff sales

Phladelphia Business Journal | Bill requiring independent appraisals on Phila. real estate deals likely to become law

Legal Trend. Pre-condemnation Access. Landowners Need Opportunity to Negotiate via the flowering dogwood state. What you need to know:

Background: Atlantic Coast Pipeline contractors seek access to property to begin tree-cutting, Landowners are asking a court to prevent the tree cutting.

What court? US District Court Judge Terence Boyle, a George HW Bush appointee, in the Eastern District of North Carolina

The court sides with the landowners and said: 

  • landowners should have a reasonable opportunity to negotiate
  • the pipeline can use eminent domain

What pre-requisities on eminent domain use are detailed by the court to…

Anatomy of a Property Rights Group Opposition to Local Land Use. 5 New Preemption Bills + 3 Inverse Condemnation Compensation Standards

Where: La Plata County Colorado

The land use resrictions the La Plata Liberty Coalition Opposes:

  • County regulation of building height
  • County regulation of exterior facade colors
  • County regulations of screening structures and minimizing impacts on views
  • County regulations providing visual breaks to any structures’ facade
  • County regulations to avoid monotonous roof planes

3 County regulation topics that require just compensation:

  • requiring “open vistas”
  • preserving “scenic corridors”
  • “aest…

Activist TREND. Texas Conservative Online Eminent Domain Polling. 58% say No. No. No. More say Never for Private Entities.

online polling for eminent domain purports:

  • 58% oppose eminent domain use
  • 42% are yes and likely yes, but only if….

What qualifiers are offered for yes to eminent domain?

  • never for private projects
  • only for national emergencies
  • only if compensation is drastically above fair market place
  • fair compensation & a benefit for the community

isidewith | Eminent Domain Poll Results for Greg Abbott Voters