Category Archives: private property rights

2 Texas Eminent Domain Opponents that moved Dallas City Council to Make 5 New Eminent Domain Changes

What oppositions to eminent domain influenced new eminent domain protocols in Dallas?

  • Texas High Speed Rail’s “substantial muscle”
  • Marvin Nichols Reservoir’s “powerful East Texans have joined in the “no more bullying” cry”

How has Dallas City Council adapted its eminent domain protocols?

  • “delay the votes [ on  a waste water project eminent domain ] and instead demand that City Hall start doing business differently”
  • concerns over relocation costs, and adequate compensation to purchase…

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…

3 Reasons Land Owner Complaints on Eminent Domain Are Getting Old. Dallas Morning News.

In an editorial laying out why the Dallas Morning News opposes the Brazos Valley Council opposition to high-speed rail, there’s quite a statement about eminent domain.

From the editorial: ” But the eminent domain scare tactic is getting old.”

Why is the “eminent domain scare tactic getting old?”

  • eminent domain is a quagmire for both sides
  • because condemning entities want to settle, that could strengthen land owner negotiations over price
  • landowners will still get to use their property

…

Lege Trend: No Eminent Domain for Transmission Lines

What state is proposing an eminent domain ban for transmission lines? Missouri

Is this all transmission lines or just privately owned transmission lines?  The ban includes privately funded, long distance, Direct Current transmission lines.

Why this legislative response? 

  • Missouri Publiuc Service Commission denied eminent domain to a private transmission line that would traverse Missouri but not provide electic service in Missouri.
  • The power line project was opposed by land owners,…

INTERIM. Sharing Economy. Red State Moves to Prevent Cities from Banning Short Term Rentals.

What’s going on & where? The Arizona Senate passed a bill to keep cities from shutting down short term rentals.

What would the bill do?

  • Allow city regulations to be only “narrowly tailored”
  • Limit regulations to fire and building codes, public health & sanitation
  • Require the webhosts to collect taxes

Institute for Justice | Arizona Senate Votes to Ban Cities from Banning Airbnb, Couch-Surfing

Arizona SB 1350

What Witnesses Said to Committee Supporting Eminent Domain Moratorium that Passed.

As loyal subscribers know, 2 state legislatures enacted moratoriums on eminent domain, specifially eminent domain used by private entities, like pipelines. 

Let’s dig into what supporting testimony for these moratoriums looked like:

  • No eminent domain for private gain “it is morally wrong for a for-profit company to make money off of my hard labor for its investors” -a 270 acre property owner
  • Eminent Domain Created Unfair Competition some state oil and gas companies said, we’ve never…

4 Points from CPAC Eminent Domain Poll. 91% say Eminent Domain is a No-No with few exceptions.

What does the right think about eminent domain?

  • 75% say eminent domain should be NARROWLY used
  • 16% say eminent domain should NEVER be used
  • Of the 75%, they say eminent domain should be limited to only public use projects like schools, dams, highways and police stations
  • 36% say its a total dealbreaker for a candidate to support eminent domain that transfers private property to a private entity

Conservative.org | CPAC Straw Poll 

Center for Immigration Studies | CPAC Straw Poll: 52%…

INTERIM. Sharing Economy. Private Property Rights Meets Sales Tax.

This week Louisiana passed a sales tax expansion to apply a 4% sales tax on short term rentals.

What you need to know about the short term rental sales tax:

  • Louisiana could not estimate how much the tax would generate because:
    • The number of short term rentals is unknown
    • The revenue generated from short term rentals is also unknown
  • The sales tax passed because of a historic $900 M shortfall
  • How did they do it? Expanded the definition of hotel/motel

NOLA.com | Times Picayune…

Private Property Rights. Meets Data Security in Billboards. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

What do private property rights, data security & billboards have in common? A lot when billboards are partnering with telecom to track people’s travel patterns and behaviors through their mobile phones.

Tracking travel patterns and location creates data.  Data creation leads to data storage which leads to a trove of data for hackers.

The Center for Digital Democracy says ““It is incredibly creepy, and it’s the most recent intrusion into our privacy.”

NYTimes | See That…

1 Pipeline = 2 States Stop Eminent Domain via Legislation + 1 Court Also says No to Eminent Domain.

A pipeline that will traverse South Carolina & Georgia has the 2 states pushing legislation to reign in eminent domain. Let’s look:

The South Carolina bill package will:

  • Establish a 5 year moratorium on pipeline eminent domain use
  • Create a Commission to study eminent domain & make recommendation about pipeline use of eminent domain

The Georgia bill will:

  • eminent domain moratorium until July 2017
  • commission to study the process for awarding private companies eminent domain…