InfoHive – Eminent Domain – Page 185

Lege Trend: Moratorium for Eminent Domain for Pipelines. 3 Quick Bits Informed Intel.

Georgia is considering HB 1036 which would create a 1 year moratorium to prevent eminent domain by pipelines
HB 1036 creates a 13-member commission of experts from business, agriculture, the environment and related fields to review the process, compare notes with how other states do it, and then prepare legislative recommendations by the end of the year.
The author, a Republican, wants greater study of eminent domain and environmental issues.

Savannah Now | House bill would delay Georgia pipelines

Florida Times Union | Georgia Considering Bill to Impose Moratorium on Pipelines

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 of eminent domain for ballpark

Campaign Trend: Shaming Eminent Domain Bills. 4 Bits Informed Intel.

The Toth v. Brady Congressional race is a he said/he said brawl over who opposed high speed rail first
A Toth mailer says Brady authored & voted for eminent domain for high speed rail as a state representative in 1993
Brady says the 1993 bill removed eminent domain from pirvate companies building high speed rail
Political Scientists call it grossly inaccurate

Your News Houston | Brady: Toth high-speed rail mailer a ‘lie’

Fox 26 | Eminent Domain Attack advertisement deemed grossly misleading

TX Compensation Issue Back in Court. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

What case is this? Bragg v. Edwards Aquifer

What ‘s the eminent domain compensation issue they’re in a legal cage fight about? The courts have agreed that a denial of groundwater pumping by Edwards Aquifer amounted to a taking of a pecan farmer’s private property

What does it mean for 2017 Legslative action? Adequate and just compensation for th etaking of private land is a perenial issue. And there’s lots bubbling around for 2017:

Last week, informedintel brought you the case of an ISD that had a good faither offer $5 million less than the award by special commissioners
Rural landowners opposed to high speed rail focus on eminent domain, the taking, with compensation, of private property
The pecan grove compensation will be bubbling around during 2017 too

San Antonio Express News | Pecan farmers at the center of historic groundwater case

Private Property Rights Trend: New Laws Prevent Data Gathering on Lands Outside City Limits. 5 Bits Informed Intel.

What type of land is being protected from researchers that want to gather data? Private property outside, the supporters point mostly to farm & ranch lands

What kind of data are they gathering? All sorts, such as water quality

What do opponents to these new laws requiring permission to gather data on land say?

it prevents people from taking pictures of wildlife and scenery from public places
the true intent is prevent the exposure of pollution
the state trespassing laws violate federal law

What do the laws say? instead of having to prove that a person trespassed, the person who collected data has to prove that she had permission to be where she was when she collected the data

What Wyoming legislators say about the laws they passed: “ “Do we value property rights, or are we going to allow vigilantism in the guise of protecting the environment to trample those rights?” Wyoming state Sen. Larry Hicks (R)

WallStreet Journal | Wyoming Trespass Laws Under Fire by Environmentalists, Photographers

TAMU Student Senate Passes Resolution Opposing Eminent Domain. 3 Elected Officials Speak Too.

Why does Texas A&M Student Senate oppose eminent domain? The proposed high speed rail that would traverse rural Texas triggered the vote

What did the elected officials, who were present, say about eminent domain? “Their resounding message was that voting in favor the Eminent Domain Opposition Act is akin to advocating for the protection of property owners.”

Which State Representatives and State Senators participated in Texas A&M Student Senate eminent domain debate?

Sen. Charles Schwertner
Rep. Trent Ashby
Rep. John Wray
- “What I want to ask you to do is to vote in favor of this bill, because if you do that you’re voting in favor of property rights,” Wray said. “If you do that you’re voting in favor of fair market value. If you do that you’re voting in favor of keeping the phrase ‘willing’ in front of the phrase ‘seller.’ And you’re voting to uphold the free market.”

The Battilion | State politicians, lobbyists, students clash on high-speed rail

Campaign Trend: Eminent Domain. Toll Roads. 3 Points from 1 TX House District.

In which house district is this occuring? HD-2 (Flynn)

What are activists saying about eminent domain and toll roads?

“I never felt like he (the incumbent) cared one bit that a private organization would have been able to use the power of eminent domain over the citizens to build a for-profit toll road.”
“Even with personal visits by property owners to his office, Rep. Flynn was fully behind this private toll way, and continued to advise us with statements such as, ‘stick together,’ and ‘don’t take the first offer,’”
Bryan Slaton stood with the residents threatened by the Blacklands private tollway when Dan Flynn refused to listen and supported the toll road and the special interests behind it. Residents of HD 2 deserve genuine representation and someone who will not only listen to them, but fight for them and the issues important to their community.”

What happened with this eminent domain and toll road project? It died.

Empower Texas | Texas Scorecard | Anti-Toll Road Activists: Dan Flynn Was No Help

Compensation Survey. TX Eminent Domain Case. Offer $5 Million less than Special Commissioners.

Let’s look at numbers from an eminent domain case involving Conroe ISD:

Conroe ISD seeks to obtain 46 acres from a group of land owners and here’s the numbers that have been bandied:

Best offer from Conroe ISD: $5.1 Million
Special Commissioners decision: $10 Million

What’s happening to this eminent domain case now? Neither party was satisfied with the $10 million number and both parties have appealed to district court. Oral hearing is scheduled for October 16th.

Houston Chronicle | Trial set over land for new CISD high school

Landowner & Pipeline Fight in Federal Court. State Police Stop Pre-Condemnation Access. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

Where is this eminent domain case in the courts? A federal district judge and Federal Energy Regulatory Agency granted a pipeline in Pennsylvania the ability to clear trees in anticipation of a pipeline while the matter continues in federal court.

How did the state police stop the pre-condemnation access? The federal judge’s order did not authorize the state police to arrest protesters who appeared to stop the loggers.

What is the issue the land owners are fighting? Landowners operate a maple farm, the trees are beginning to produce sap, and it is these revenue generating trees that the loggers sought to remove.

Citizens Voice | State police instruct pipeline clearing crews to hold off