Lege Trend. Oil & Gas Set Backs Lead to Initiative to Compensate Land Owners.

Where:  Colorado

What form is this compensation for private property owners taking? An initiative proposal

Why compensate private property becuse of oil and gas drilling set backs? The Colorado Farm Bureau proposed the initiative because drilling setbacks are causing farmrs to lose out on mineral interst royalties.

The Fence Post | Colorado Farm Bureau proposes initiative to protect private property rights

Lege Trend. 4 Property Value Requirements in this Eminent Domain Bill. Read the Bill.

Utah is considering HB62 which looks to re-define property valuation for eminent domain by requiring the value include:

  • any impact from the public project for which the property was taken
  • anything a prudent purchaser would consider in determining the market value of the property after the taking
  • access to the property that exists after the taking
  • and the value shall not include in the property value will be the property tax assessment 

Libertas Utah | HB 62: Helping Ensure Just Compensation…

The $1 trigger for attorney fees. Eminent domain in the Field of Dreams.

In Iowa if a landowner challenges the value of a property taken by eminent domain, the land owner can have his or her attorney fees covered if he or she shows in court that their property was undervalued by at least  $1.

Bristol Herald Courier | Sioux City, property owner battle over price for trail land

Eminent Domain Compensation. Highest and Best Use Calculations in the Palmetto State. Writing Your Eminent Domain Bills for you.

To determine just compensation for property taken by eminent domain in South Carolina, an appraiser determines the highest and best use of the land by:

Considering a “property’s highest and best use must be physically possible, legally permissible, financially feasible, and maximally profitable.”

Highest and best use applies even if the landowner has no intention of using his or her property in that manner.

Lexology | How “Highest and Best Use” Can Substantially Impact Just Compensation for…

Lege Proposal: Penalize Coercive Eminent Domain Acts. Prohibitions With Teeth.

Ohio lawyers are proposing an enforcement mechanism for bad eminent domain actors.

Why does OH need enforcement for coercive eminent domain? The law has no enforcement mechanism for the prohibition against coercive acts.

What’s the propsed enforcement for bad actors? 

  • Clear cause of action that clearly provide landowners with a private cause of action against condemnors who use coercive tactics or conduct in land acquisitions
  • Monetary penalties
  • Attorney Fees Bad actors should be liable for…

Lege Trend. Grants with strings attached. No eminent domain.

The state that prohibits eminent domain with grant funds: Indiana

The grant funds that prohibit eminent domain: State Community Development Block Grant Main Street Revitalization Program, which requires local matching of $150,000 for a total $600,000 grant

The local government project that will use the grant funds:  widen, replace and extend sidewalks in Georgetown, Indiana in connection with the River Hills Economic Development District and Regional Planning Commission.

News and Tribune…

Texas State Rep. 3 Points on Eminent Domain Review and Reform.

Texas State Representative Ernest Bailes op-ed in the Houston Chronicle makes these points about a need to review eminent domain laws:

  • Growth and development lead to eminnt domain challenges for land owners
  • Need to ensure fairness in eminent domain statutes
  • Fair compensation for land owners is very improtant to his district

Houston Chronicle Op-Ed | Bailes: Eminent domain statutes need review to ensure fairness

TEXAS INTERIM CHARGES. 8. Property Rights + Eminent Domain + Land Use + Land Privacy + Blight

House Committee on County Affairs

#7 Land Development & Floods.  Evaluate whether counties have the necessary ordinance-making and enforcement authority to deal with flood risk in unincorporated rural and suburban areas of Texas. Additionally, examine whether counties have adequate resources and authority to ensure that new development in unincorporated areas is not susceptible to flooding. 

House Committee on Energy Resources 

#5 Wind Decommissioning & Property Rights. Examine how…

TX Senator Huffman. 2 Points on Just Compensation.

In an op-ed focusing on the willfull flooding of homes by the Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Seantor Joan Huffman makes these points about just compensation:

  • homeowners should be spared years of emotional and costly litigation, and Congress should secure just compensation for home owners
  • the Army Corps of engineers actions constitute a taking that requires just compensation

Houston Chronicle | Huffman: Homeowners deserve ‘just compensation’