Eminent Domain as Blight Leverage? Lessons from a Peachy City

the City: Savannah Georgia

What legislative change does Savannah want?

  • To Charge a blight tax

What do local community leaders want to help blight?

  • To be allowed to use eminent domain to enourage property owners to clean up properties as a way to help the property owners who live near the eyesores.

WTOC 11 | Savannah leaders looking at eminent domain to address chronically blighted property

 

3 Private Property Rights Arguments Against Northern City Regulation of Home Sharing

The City: Chicago

The Current Ordinance Status: Enacted. Full effect December 2016. 2 pending lawsuits involvling the Liberty Justice Center and Goldwater Center. 

The private property rights challenges raised against the ordinances:

  • extra tax on home sharing
  • limit on number of units in a building that can be rented through home sharing platform at a given time
  • property hosts must maintain records on guests

Chicago Tribune | Chicago’s Airbnb home-sharing rules are ‘draconian,’ lawsuit says

3 Pieces of Intel. Each New Texas Legislator.

+26 House: 

  • Valoree Swanson
    • Baylor. Concerned Women of America. Real Estate Broker.
  • Shawn Thierry
    • Attorney. Howard Univ. & South TX College of Law. Big Borther Big Sisters.
  • Mary Ann Perez
    • U of H. Insurance. Former HCC Trustee.
  • Jarvis D. Johnson
    • Former Houston Council Member. Restraunteur & Consultant African Trade. Texas Southern.
  • Tom Oliverson
    • Anesthesiologist. Home Schools. Baylor College of Medicine.
  • Briscoe Cain
    • U of H. South Texas College of Law. Raised working class. 
  • Kevin Roberts
    • Texas Tech. Riased by Grandparents in Amarillo. COO Lanier Lawfirm.
  • Barbara Gervin-Hawkins
    • Univeristy of Eastern Michigan. Sister of NBA Player George Gervin. Together founded community center and charter school.
  • Tomas Uresti
    • Former School Board member. Legal Assistant. Uresti Law Firm.
  • Philip Cortez
    • UT Austin. Working on PhD in Educational Administration. Fraternal Order of the Eagles.
  • Diana Arevalo
    • Executive Director for an after school affordable music program. Former DNC staff. BBA from UTSA.
  • Victoria Neave
    • Attorney. Texas Southern University. Community Service focused on the elderly.
  • Lina Ortega
    • UT Austin. Attorney. Helped Created El Paso Co. Code of Ethics. 
  • Kyle Biedermann
    • Univ. of South Florida. Small Business Owner. Primary Win touted by Empower Texas.
  • Stan Lambert
    • Abilene Christian Univ. SMU. Former Banking Exec. Athletic Director at Abilene Christian. Former School Board Trustee.
  • Lynn Stucky (Mr.)
    • Veterinarian.  Kansas State. Former School Board Trustee.
  • Mike Lang
    • Grew up on a farm in Illinois. TCU. Retired law enforcmeent officer.
  •  Hugh Shine
    • Held the seat 30 years ago. Sam Houston State. Army retired after 30 years of service. Colonel Shine.  MBA Baylor.
  • Scott Cosper
    • Former Mayor of Killeen. Former City Council member. Cosper Custom Homes and Construction. Member of the Texas Department of Transportation Policy Board for 16 years
  • Gina Hinojosa
    • UT-Austin. George Washington Univ. Attorney. School Board Trustee. 
  • Justin Holland
    • City Council Member. Mayor Pro Tem. Realtor.Texas Tech.
  • Terry Wilson
    • Combat veteran. Retired from Army after 30 years. Touted by Empower Texas/
  • Ernest Bailes
    • Texas A&M. Whitetail deer genetics company founder. Served on an Appraisal Board.
  • Jay Dean
    • Former Mayor of Longview. The mayor who paid to stop Ted Nugent from performing a 4th of July concert. LSU.
  • Cole Hefner
    • Former Upshur Co. Commissioner. Independent Insurance Agent. Pilot.
  • Lance Gooden
    • Will be his 3rd session. UT Austin. Business Development Consultant.

+3 Senate: 

  • Dawn Buckingham
    • Volunteer firefighter. UT-Austin. Lake Travis ISD trustee.
  • Borris Miles
    • Sam Houston State. Former law enforcement officer. 
  • Bryan Hughes
    • UT-Tyler. Baylor School of law. Supported by the Lt. Gov. during the 2016 primary.

Legal Trend. No Pre-condemnation Access. +1 State Supreme Court

Requiring that land owners allow precondemnation access to their land for pipelines is going out of fashion.

The latest court to side against pipelines in eminent domain: The West Virigina State Supreme Court

What did the West Virigina Supreme Court have to say? 

  • unconvinced the pipeline serves a public benefit
  • if there is no public benefit, there is no eminent domain and there is no access to land without land owner consent.

Why did the court decide there was no public benefit in the pipeline? 

  • The court determined that the primary purpose of the pipeline was to move product from Northern West Virginia to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. 
  • “no “definitive evidence” that any non-MVP affiliated gas producers would benefit from the pipeline.”

Charleston Gazette Mail | Landowners win case to block unauthorized pipeline surveys 

Eminent Domain and the Border Wall. 3 Things to Learn from the Existing Border Fence.

  • Eminent Domain was used to erect current border divisions.
  • Nearly all the land on the Texas border is privately owned
  • Its not going to be a fast process, the last litigation process was long and costly for the government. 

Houston Chronicle | Border residents wonder what it will be like to live in shadow of President-elect Trump’s wall

Can a city sue a bank? When bank actions led to blight?

What city wants to sue banks? Miami

Why is Miami suing? Big banks created discriminatory lending practices that led to foreclosures, less tax revenue & blight

Is this a new kind of lawsuit? No the federal government has been settling suits like this against big banks.

Washington Post | Supreme Court seems to favor Miami suing banks whose lending practices led to neighborhood blight