Eminent Domain + Duty to Maintain Transmission Lines + Wildfires = Rate Increase?

The California Public Utility Commission denied a rate increase for San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s request to bill ratepayers for a 2007 fire.

How much did San Diego want to pass on to customers?  $379 million in costs

Why was the rate increase denied? A court found SDG&E didn’t properly trim trees near transmission lines

What’s the bargain in California when eminent domain is granted? In exchange for the power of eminnt domain, CA utilities are responsible for paying damages if their equipment starts fires, even if they aren’t negligent.

3 Points. Institute for Justice Against Pipelines and Eminent Domain. +1 Solution

Institute for Justice lays out these 3 points arguing eminent domain absue by pipelines:

  • “FERC presides over a system that strips property owners of their rights without courts”
  • FERC dawdles and property owners have access to courts blocked
  • Pipelines can unfairly start cutting down trees even before state permits are granted, with an example from NY of 500 trees cut down on a family farm for a project that was never permitted

the Solution: real judicial review, in a court, before proepty is ever taken

Wall Street Journal | Opinion | Pipeline Builders Abuse Eminent Domain

Local TREND. Data Collection By Short Term Rentals. Where. What. Who.

Where: NYC new ordinance on short term rentals

Who does NYC’s data collection requirement apply to? Short Term Rental Platforms

What information will short term rental platforms, like Airbnb, have to collect?

  • Name, physical address, email, Airbnb profile URL, and phone number of hosts active that month
  • Addresses and URLs of any properties a given host rents out, and whether it was a full-home or partial-home rental
  • Total days the property was rented, rent/price paid, and any fees collected by Airbnb

Is there a fine for not collecting this information? Yes,  $1,500 or more

Tech Crunch | New law forces Airbnb to open its books to New York authorities

Local Trend. +1 City Limits Short Term Rentals to Owner Owned Property. 3 Supporting Arguments.

City: San Diego

Ordinance limits short term rentals to:

  • owner’s primary residence
  • +1 additional dwelling unit on the same parcel

3 Supporting Arguments from City Council Supporters:

  • Not elected to support investors
  • Elected to support constituents
  • Its a compromise, that isn’t perfect, but it “protects neighborhood quality of life through increased oversight and enforcement”

Times of San Diego | City Council Limits Short-Term Rentals to Owner’s Primary Residence

Legal TREND and Lege TREND. Are Statutory Distance Requirements a Taking?

The distance requirement at issue: Prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1000 feet from a school

What did the Georgia Supreme Court say? If a child care center opens near a registered sex offenders residence, yes it is a taking. 

Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections,653 S.E.2d 740 (Ga. 2007) 

+1 State Supreme Court Win. Short Term Rentals are a Residential Use

Arkansas Supreme Court joined other states finding that short term rentals are not commercial uses of property.

Vera Lee Revocable Trust v. O’Bryant, 537 S.W.3d 254 (Ark. 2018). Accord, Slaby v. Mountain River Estates Residential Ass’n, Inc.,100 So. 3d 569 (Ala. Ct. Civ. App. 2012).

Kentucky Appellate Courts find that short term rentals can violate covenants, but FL and WA courts disagree.

Harvard Law School | Short term rentals (such as Airbnb) held not to violate a covenant prohibiting “commercial use” contrary to rulings of some other courts

 

Local TREND: Mayor Proposes De-annexation for 2 policy reasons.

The Mayor: Memphis, TN Mayor Jim Strickland

The areas for de-annexation: Southwind/Windyke and Rocky Point areas of far eastern Memphis

2 Policy reasons for de-annexation:

  • right-sizing Memphis
  • more efficient City that can deliver better services

3 criteria in areas for de-annexation:

  •  low density
  • challenging to deliver municipal services
  • specifically asked for de-annexation

Local Memphis | Memphis Mayor Proposes two  more areas for de-annexation

Lege TREND. Governor Protects Open Space from Eminent Domain.

Pennsylvania Governor signed  HB 2468 (2018 | PA) protects open space by making it harder to condemn land that is subject to a Conservation Easement.

How does this work?

  • Land subject to a conservation easement cannot be condemned unless:
  • An court says that eminent domain can be used
  • A court can only say that eminent domain can be used if:
    • necessary for the health and safety of a community
    • no other reasonable and prudent alternative

Patch | Stoneleigh Response Eminent Domain Bill Signed To Law