Category Archives: legal trend

INTERIM. 2 Problems. Property Rights. 1 West Houston TIRZ.

The Memorial City TIRZ, a special district, in located in west Houston, is geerating attention for these structural and operational problems:

  • The TIRZ was created in 1999 by Mayor Brown
    • It called for “qualified neighborhood residents” to be the board members
    • Spring Branch West Super Neighborhood says appointees aren’t being vetted through them, and they have no representation on the board
  • Flooding sparked a lawsuit against the TIRZ
    • A 2 year flood led the Residents Against Flooding…

National Editorial Opposes Dallas Use of Eminent Domain. 4 Bits Informed Intel.

Which publication took the side of a small business owner in an eminent domain situation in Dallas? Wall Street Journal

What is the Dallas eminent domain issue?  Dallas wants to acquire a local auto repair shop to create a gateway to its arts district

How is Dallas acquiring this property? Some say that Dallas zoning ordinances are being amended to prohibit the operation of the auto body shop. 

What did the editorial say about Dallas’ zoning law changes that caused businesses to…

Legal Trend: Denbury Back at Texas Supreme Court, 3 Key Pieces Informed Intel.

Friday’s Texas Supreme Court orders included accepting Denbury. They’re back like the Terminator and Poltergiest rolled into one.

  • Even though the order was granted on April1st, it is not an April Fools joke. 
  • In February 2015 the appellate court reversed the trial court that ruled in favor of Denbury pipeline.
  • What was the losing argument last year? That Denbury was a common carrier. The court looked at the low number of third parties that had contractual arrangments for the…

INTERIM. TX Senate State Affairs. Compensation. Eminent Domain. 1 Way to End Low Ball Offers. 2 Supporting Arguments.

How to end low ball offers by Texas A&M Real Estate Center: make condemning entities pay attorney fees if the court award is x% higher than the initial offer.

Why make condemning entities pay legal fees?

  • Paraphrasing Senator Nelson- these are unfair transactions, these sellers are not willing sellers.
  • Paraphrasing TXDOT testimony- when we go to court, we usually have to pay 26% more for the property. 

Dallas Morning News | Here’s how to end ‘lowballing’ in eminent domain property…

3 Steps to Use Eminent Domain to Bypass Restrictive Covenants

How does a condeming entity bypass a covenent that restricts railways on their property? 

  • Get your company designated as a common carrier by the TCEQ
  • If you’re a quarry in Texas and need to move rocks, have a relationship with a nearby rail
  • Have the railway use common carrier status to condemn land to “overcome restrictive covenants jointly entered by 43 property owners”

Tah, dah… Eminent domain by a private company in 3 steps thwarts restrictive covenants by land owners.

San Antonio…

Legal Trend: The US Supreme Court Refuses 2 Eminent Domain Cases. What does that mean?

California Building Industry Association v. City of San Jose

  • Keeps in place the California Supreme Court ruling that an affordable housing ordinance is not a taking of a developer’s proeprty
  • It applies to developments of 20 more more units and requires 15% to be affordable

Beacon Resources Inc. v. W. Virginia DOT

  • A fight over the value of mineral rights. The state wants coal land. The satte wanted to ensure lost profits were not included. The court refused.
  • The case has been remanded…

12 Eminent Domain Lawsuits. 1 Pecos Pipeline. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

What issues are land owners raising in the 12 pending eminent domain lawsuits for the Trans Pecos pipeline?

  • Whether the petitions for eminent domain are valid
  • Whether there is a proper public use (can there be a public use in Texas if Texas is not a recipient of any of the goods in the pipeline?)

Is this pipeline using eminent domain like every other pipeline in Texas using eminent domain? No, no one has ever built a pipeline like Trans Pecos with the purpose of selling natural gas to…

Tarrant County Voices on Eminent Domain. 4 Bits Informed Intel.

In a letter to the editor of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, a North Texan from the Tea Party rich lands, makes the following points about eminent domain:

  • The land owners had to go to court to get just and adequate compensation.
  • Forcing this into the courts is “either gross incompetence or willful abuse of authority.”
  • its not cool when  the “Rangers initially didn’t want to pay the judgments, insisting this was the city’s (taxpayers’) responsibility. This in spite of being lavished…

Lege Trend: Adding Requirements to Pre-condemnation Access for Private Companies Using Eminent Domain. Bonjour: Oil, Gas, Electric…

Which state is putting in new requirements for pre-condemnation surveying access for private companies that have eminent domain authority? West Virginia

What are the new requirements for pre-condemantion access? To receive pre-condemantion access to private property, the condeming entity must:

  • send a letter via certified mail
  • the letter must be sent 15-to-60 days before the date of the survey

What sparked this bill? A court stopped precondemnation access for surveyors because public…

3 Reasons an Ethics Professor Says the Arlington Baseball Stadium Should Have Not Used Eminent Domain

  • A ball park is neither a public use nor a public purpose
  • There is no public benefit of a ball park
    • And, if you try to say there is an economic benfit, he’ll throw studies at you to say that is not true
  • Taking land from one property owner to give it to another so they can make money is no different than Kelo, and that’s what happened in Arlington

–Richard Galvin is the Betty S. Wright Professor in Applied Ethics at Texas Christian University. Star Telegram | Greene got it wrong on use…