Where: Boston, Massachusetts

Which properties can be offered for short term rental? Owner Occuppied Properties

Which properties cannot be offered for short term rental? 

• properties occuppied by tenants
• properties owned by investors

Boston Globe | City Council passes tough rules that limit Airbnb rentals. 

Where: Universal City, Missouri

What: A road expansion project requires the acquisition of property. 

How will eminent domain be used? The city’s position is to not use eminent domain on any owner occuppied property.

Universal City Patch | Olive/170 Project Raises Hopes And Fears In University City

State:Pennsylvania

The regulatory requirement for managing short term rentals: a real estate broker licensing requirement that “makes it a crime for anyone but a fully licensed real estate broker to help property owners manage rental properties on sites like Airbnb” 

Who challenged the regualtory scheme? The Institute for Justice

What have the courts done? Appellate Court has kept the licensing requirement in tact

What is the argument against a broker license for managing short term rentals? The management of short term rentals does not involve the buying and selling of property

Institute for Justice | PA Court Dismisses AIRNB Lawsuit 

The anatomy of reservoir building in Florida:

The reservoir project: a massive 60,000-acre shallow reservoir to stop dirty water in Lake Okeechobee from polluting the coasts and revive South Florida’s wilting marshes

The opposition: Sugar farmers who refused to sell

The legislative action: Deny the use of eminent domain to complete the reservoir

Miami Herald | Vast reservoir is key to state Everglades plan. Federal concerns could derail it.  

Why do mountain states allow for private condemnation for natural resources? to encourage natural resource development

How is the private condemnation used in arid regions?

• condemnation was used to allow water to be carried distances over land held by others to irrigate potentially fertile farmland
• condemnation prevents a single landowner who controls access to a water source or mineral deposit could block development or hold the resources hostage by demanding a significant payout for easement rights

Which states allow for private condemnation? 

• Colorado
• Idaho
• Wyoming
• Arizona
• Montana
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Utah
• North Dakota
• South Dakota 

Colorado Real Estate Journal | Private right of condemnation: Necessary or outdated?

What is private condemnation?  It allows  landowners the unique ability to condemn another landowner’s property to acquire a right-of-way to construct “ditches, canals and flumes for the purpose of conveying water for domestic purposes,” and for irrigation, mining, manufacturing and drainage, “upon payment of just compensation,”

Which states allow for private condemnation? 

• Colorado
• Idaho
• Wyoming
• Arizona
• Montana
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Utah
• North Dakota
• South Dakota 

Colorado Real Estate Journal | Private right of condemnation: Necessary or outdated?

State: Pennsylvania 

Legislation: HB 2468 (2018 | PA)

How does HB 2468 (2018 | PA) make it harder to use eminent domain on open space?

• requires any government agency to obtain Orphans’ Court approval
• PRIOR TO using eminent domain to take permanently preserved land
• CONVINCE the court that  there are no alternatives for the project

Author’s Press Release on HB 2568 (2018 | PA) 

Main Line Times | Kampf proposes law to make use of eminent domain on open space land more difficult

• Preempt local gardening bans that prohibit edible gardens SB 1776 (2018 | FL)
• Preempt short term rental ordinances
  • SB 1400 vs.  HB 773  Florida Legislature
  •  HB 2569 (MO | 2018) Missouri Legislature
  • Arizona’s Private Property Rights Protection Act
• Prohibit any county or town from passing a fence ordinance that violates current WY code WY SF 107 (2018)

• NH town wants to redefine nuisance to cover more blighted property
• IL town wants noise and light regulations for wind turbines
• Spokane WA wants to prohibit drone use that is dangerous
• 5 Cities Fight Blight with vacant property TAXES
• Farmington UT used a Agricultural Protection Area to protect farm land from eminent domain
• Southington, CT sends blight citations to housing court rather than fines and police enforcement

Virginia courts will be taking up a 1st amendment freedom of religion vs. a 5th amendment eminent domain case.

Numerous eminent domain cases against religious institutions are swirling in various state courts setting up a US Supreme Court issue.

What’s happening in VA? First Baptist Norfolk wants to blovk Virginia Department of Transportation use of eminent domain for property they value at $11.8 million.

10Wavy | Norfolk Church goes to court in eminent domain case with VDOT

Colorado Farm Bureau is proposing Initiative 108 that will amend the Colorado Constitution to:

• “ensure property owners are properly compensated if new laws or regulations negatively impact the value of their property”

What is the catalyst? tightening of setbacks on oil and gas development from fracking proliferation

How does the tightening of oil and gas setbacks impact farmers?  Setbacks essentially eliminate oil and natural gas development & farmers rely on royalty checks

Journal Advocate |Farm Bureau petition to put property rights on ballot

Court: Texas Supreme Court 

Case: Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Ass’n, Inc.

Did restrictive covenants stop short term rentals? No, short term rentals can continue. 

How did short term rentals continue in the face of restrictive covenenants that limit use of a property to single-family residences?

• Covenants did not address leasing of property
• Covenants did not require owner occupation
• Since covenants addressed neither, there was no prohibition from short term leasing

When Missouri capped local revenue from trffic tickets at 30%, the number of fines issued for housing violations skyrocketed.

39% of the adult population in Pagedale, Missouri was issued a housing fine.

Lawsuits ensued.

This week a consent decree was entered that will:

• require the city to re-write its housing code
• require good cause prosecution for housing fines
• no jail, no contempt charges

institute for justice | Federal Court Approves Historic Consent Decree Ending “Policing for Profit” in Pagedale, Mo.

Ordinance Proposal will define a nuisance as:  ” “any condition or use of property which unreasonably interferes with health, safety, peace, comfort or convenience of the general community and is detrimental to the property of others or which causes or tends to cause substantial diminution in the value of other property in the neighborhood in which such property is located.”

Fine:  fine of up to $1,000 or remedy within 10 days

City: Raymond NH

Opponents say: This is not live free or die. If I want 12 inch grass, I should have 12 inch grass. If I want to work on 2 cars and not be a registered as a junk yard, I should be able to do so.

Union Leader | Proposed ordinance targeting ‘nuisance’ items sparks debate over property rights in Raymond

Texas Public Policy Foundation sets forth these reasons to support short term rental industry:

• People should have a right to rent out their homes
• Don’t add regulations for short term rentals, reduce regulations for hotels/motels to level the playing field
• “an intrusion by the government into the lives of everyday” people

TPPF in the New York Daily News | PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE A RIGHT TO RENT OUT THEIR HOMES SHORT-TERM: DEFENDING AIRBNB IS ABOUT PROTECTING BASIC FREEDOM

Which courts? Federal Courts in Texas

Landowners: 9 Fanin County, TX landowners

Landowners are suing: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Col. Christopher A. Hussin, commander of the corps’ Tulsa district

The reservoir:  Lower Bois d’Arc Reservoir in East Texas being built by North Texas Municipal Water District

The legal issue: The federal permit issued by the corps violated federal water and environmental laws

Dallas Morning News | Lawsuit challenges reservoir that would supply water for 1.7 million North Texas residents 

Where: California’s Initiative – Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018- is gathering signatures for November 2018 ballot

What would the Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018 require for annexation?  Require residents in the land to be annexed to vote

What would the Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018 require for a tax on the newly annexed property?  Require a 2/3 vote approval for taxation of the newly annexed land

The Signal Santa Clarita Valley | New tax act initiative could change city’s annexation processes

Cities are turning to Vacancy Taxes to:

• encourage development of vacant property
• encourage leasing of vacant property
• encourage selling of vacant property

Which 5 cities have implemented or are implementing vacancy taxes?

• Washington, D.C
• Vancouver
• New York City
• Oakland
• San Francisco

Governing | Cities Now Use Taxes to Fight Blight. Is It Working?

In KP-0200 (2018 | TX) the Texas Attorney General answered this question:

Where is this happening? Wichita Falls, Texas

What bond measure failed with 75% voting against it? A proposed municipal center

What happened as a result of the failed bond measure?

• The businesses located at the proposed municipal center site were not taken via eminent domain 
• The businesses have noticed an increase in business
• “”It brought back a local interest from people that kind of thought well they’re gone,” Ward said.

News Channel 6 Now | Bond-election reawakens interest in downtown WF businesses

5 Cities where the Institute for Justice is/has been legally fighting food truck ordinances in:

• San Antonio
• El Paso
• Louisville
• Baltimore
• Chicago
• Gibraltar Wisconsin

The argument supporters of food truck rights are using: fighting economic protectionism

IJ.com | Fish Creek Food Truck owners Threatened with Fines Fight Back

Sevier County, Tennessee, is considering eminent domain to take possession of a county animal shelter that is without an operating contractor.

Where did the idea of eminent domain for an animal shelter come from? the Sevier County Budget Committee

How was eminent domain received by the commissioners? “I am always very reluctant to use the power of condemnation unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, I continue to believe the best solution for our citizens and the animal welfare is for the cities and the county to agree on the second proposal, working with experienced people on a short-term shelter, while continuing the process of building a county and cities operated facility.”

Sevier News Messenger | County Considers Seizing Sevier County Humane Society Property through Eminent Domain. 

An editorial in DeKalb County Illinois is calling for local restrictions on a new wind farm that would address:

• light pollution
• minimize the disruption of blinking red lights
• minimal or eliminated shadow flicker from the blades blocking sunlight
• consistent setback requirements

What should be required of the wind energy companies:

• pay the cost to improve roads
• guarantee property values

Who should be protected by the ordinance(s) according to the DeKalb editorial:

• land owners 
• rural residents

Daily Chronicle | Our view: Wind turbine ordinance should protect, respect property rights

Background: 

• 2016 Surface Transportation Board did not authorize eminent domain for Texas Central Rail proposed high speed rail between Dallas and Houston
• A 2018 partnership with Amtrak triggered a request for reconsideration of the 2016 eminent domain issue

Campaign TREND.

• HD 8 primary run-off candidate Cody Harris says the following about eminent domain use and high speed rail:
  • “dishonest and deceitful scheme by Texas Central”
  • “attack on rural property rights”
  • ” transparent assault on the sovereignty of Texas”
  • “Texas Central now realizes the only way to get what they’re after is to take their case before the bureaucrats and special interests in the DC swamp”

Corsicana Daily Sun | Harris Blows the Whistle on High-Speed Rail Scheme to “Borrow” Eminent Domain Authority from Amtrak

Palestine Herald Press | Harris accuses Texas Central of land grab; company touts jobs

Ft. Worth Star Telegram | Why the makers of Texas’ high-speed rail line want to connect to Amtrak

City: Spokane Washington

Spokane’s drone restrictions in public parks: drones cannot be operated ““in a manner that is dangerous to persons or property.”

The enforcement mechanism: $261 fine

The Spokesman Review | Camping, marijuana and drone use to be restricted under new rules for Spokane’s parks

Where: Muskogee Oklahoma

What propety was taken for what type of project? To expand the parking lot of a VA Call Center, the City took a residential property

What did the residential landowners tell the court? that the taking was to “serve a private purpose deprived them of a property interest without due process in violation of state and federal constitutions”

What did the city say was the reason for the parking lot? Safety and transportation 

The appellate court: An agreement between the city and the building owner showed that the taking of the residential property served a private purpose.

Muskogee Phoenix | City settles eminent domain claims

Where: Farmington, Utah

How did the city council in Farmington Utah protect a 6th generation farm? By designating the farm an Agricultural Protection Area

What protections does an Agricultural Protection Area offer? 

• Protection from zoning changes for 20 years
• fortifies protections against eminent domain, but doesn’t 100% insulate the famr from eminent domain
• safeguards the property against nuisance lawsuits related to farm noises and smells

can the designation be renewed?  Yes. 

Why is this a better option for the farm than a conservation easement? 

• A conservation easement would have forced unnecessary land use restrictions on the farm
• Would have restricted a future conveyance by children or grandchildren

Standard Examiner | Farmington farm scores win, but future still uncertain

The candidate: A candidate for county commissioner in Montana

The combination of property rights/economic growth:

• “Individual private property rights are of paramount importance to Flathead County residents
• and protecting individual property rights and planning for growth is not an either/or proposition.
• We can do both,” 
• “Government regulation of private property should only go as far as necessary to protect legitimate health and safety issues associated with that growth and no further.”

Daily Inter Lake | BRODEHL STRONG ON PROPERTY RIGHTS, FISCAL CONSTRAINT 

Philadelphia Pennsylvania City Council is poised to require that all local government property transactions require a third party appraisal to determine the value of the property.

The bill makes 2 exceptions:

• land taken by eminent domain
• sheriff sales

Phladelphia Business Journal | Bill requiring independent appraisals on Phila. real estate deals likely to become law

To support state action for short term rentals, supporters are touting: Arizona’s Private Property Rights Protection Act

Why is Arizona’s Private Property Rights Protection Act so important?  It allows land owners to be reminursed when regulations decreate their proeprty values, which with certain common-sense exceptions

The Hill |  Grassroot Institute of Hawaii | Property rights include the right to rent it out — even if others don’t like it

3 Ways Colorado cities are proposing to regulate drones:

• Allow residents to shoot down drones (ordinance failed to pass in Deer Trail, CO)
•  Limit the methods of piloting a drone beyond that which the FAA has already designated (Newton, CO)
• Greenwood. CO is using existing ordinances prohibit photographs, nuisances & harassment

The local governments raise the following policy reasons:

• protect the quality of life of residents
• protect privacy
• limit recording of concerts and events by drone

DroneDJ | Colorado towns try to restrict drone use with local rules that interfere with the FAA’s mandate

State:  Missouri

The Missouri short term rental local ordinance premption bill: HB 2569 (MO | 2018) 

What would  HB 2569 (MO | 2018)  do?

• prohibit municipalities from requiring a business license
• prohibits home owner associations from blocking short term rentals
• address how spaces are advertised for shirt term rentals to ensure a fee is collected

What do opponents say?

• could impact the collection of the city’s tourism tax, because the bed tax (hotel/motel tax) is collected from a business. No business license, then there is no business to tax

Missourian | City Tracks House Bill On Vacation Rentals

The Campaign: Congressional Candidates for 2nd Congressional District in Tennessee

The Eminent Domain Issue: When the Tennessee Valley Authority was created, land was taken by eminent domain. Legislative proposals seek to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority. 

The Candidate Responses to Privatization and Eminent Domain

• 4 candidates of both parties oppose privatization
• 1 Republican candidate specifically noted the use of eminent domain as a reason to oppose privatization

The Daily Times of Blount County | Nine congressional candidates offer range of views at forum

Background: A local Wisconsin Community Development Authority is taking action to declare maintained properties blighted

What statutory language provides for development within an area under blight standards:

“an area which is predominantly open, and which because of obsolete planning, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or of site improvements or otherwise substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the community.” 

Community Repsonse: Organized the  Better Mount Pleasant group to call for the resignation of the Community Development Authority members utilizing blight as counter to the local government’s ethics policy.

There’s a conflict between state blight laws and the local government ethics policy? The local citizen group claims the local officers are  violating the local  Code of Ethics, which states “any public official who knowingly acts in excess of their legal authority and official capacity has committed misconduct in office.” 

The Journal Times | Group calls for Mt. Pleasant CDA resignations amid blighting controversy

Congress is considering HR 1689 which does the following:

• No eminent domain can be used if the state or local government receives federal economic development funds
• Private causes of action ca be brought against states and cities if eminent domain is used and economic development was involved
• Prohibits State immunity in causes of action

State: Louisiana

The legislation to open navigable waters to anglers: HB 391 (LA | 2018)  to ” restore anglers’ rights to access public waters”

The opposition to opening navigable waters to anglers:

• wealthy private land owners
• energy companies

Supporters of opening navigable waters to anglers:

• Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation
• Louisiana Sportsmen’s Coalition

The Louisiana House vote: 37-59

KALB| Powerful Opposition’ kills public access reform in Louisiana

Background: Nebraksa legislature passed a bill that would repeal a county’s ability to eradicate black-tailed prairie dogs on private property

Supporters of the Bill Call for Private Proeprty Rights: Repealing a county’s aility to eradicate the black-tailed prairie dog on private property is important because this law “infringes on property rights and harms native animals.”

The Veto is supported by this pro-private property rights statement: “fails to protect individual property rights from neighbors who don’t control prairie dogs on their property.”

Hastings Tribune | Governor vetoes Nebraska prairie dog management bill

The 3 pending eminent domain issues that could reshape land use in Houston, Texas:

• Hurricane Harvey.  The city’s of eminent domain to re-purchase flood plain areas
• High Speed Rail. Whether Central Texas Rail will be authorized to use eminent domain to obtian lands for its rail and stations.
• Roads. Always, roads. More people = new roads and expanded roads.

In Texas Attorney General Opinino Rquest, RQ-022-KP, we’re going to find out what property rights an RV has and what property rights a park owner has.

Get your arguments ready for the Attorney General.

Get your drafting pencils ready to write the bill to fix the opinion. 

Who requested the opinion: Charles Perry

The question for the Attorney General Opinion: whether recreational vehicle park guests-transient or temporary guests-are licensees or tenants

What arguments does the opinion request make?

• There is no consistency under TExas law onw hether RVs are treated as tenants or licnesees at RV parks
• Licensees are how hotel guests are treated and references the transient nature
• The TX Water Code refers  RVs as transient
• The TX Transportation Code doesn’t use the word “transient” but refers to “not permanent”

The stadium: FC Cincinnati

The opposition Op-Ed author: A former Cincinnati mayor and founder and CEO of the Center for Closing the Health Gap

The eminent domain problem:

• History is a problem. 
  •  In the 1950s 26,000, mostly minority residents, were displaced from eminent domain for an redevelopment project
  • When I-75 was expanded, the same displacement of minority residents occurred
• Relocation never occured. The 1950s eminent domain use did not bring relocation to fruition
• There was no redevelopment.  The same are remains economically repressed.

Cincinnati.com | Opinion: Why opposition to FC Cincinnati is about more than just a stadium

South Carolina Governor signed S1101 (2018) that extends the ban on eminent domain for private or publicly traded pipeline companies.

The ban on eminent domain was set to expire and has been extended to November 30, 2020.

Berkeley Independent | Lawmakers continue work on electric power reform

State: Georgia

The Republican Candidate for Governor: Hunter Hill, a former State Senator 

His proposed test for granting eminent domain authority to a private entity:   a net benefit to the taxpayers before eminent domain can be given to private entities

WABE | Meet Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Hunter Hill

The City: Cochella

The short term rental ordinance provisions that were chopped: inspections and a $60 licensing fee

The reasons for eliminating inspections and fees:

• The economic impact for the Cochella festival
• entrance barriers may stifle economic development and opportunities for city tourism revenue
• Cochella retained the need for property owners to obtain a business license for $100

Desert Sun | Coachella cuts short-term rental inspections and license fee days before festival

Texas Attorney General Opinion Request: RQ-0219-KP

Requestor: Lyle Larson

Question the Attorney General Office is to answer:  Does Chapter 75, Title 4 ofthe Civil Practice and Remedies Code apply to private property owners on whose property agro-tourism related private aircraft lands?

State: Wisconsin

Development Project: FoxConn Manufacturing Plant

What’s happened to the property in the FoxConn path?

• most property owners have not entered into negotiations
• blight designations were prescribed by the Mount Pleasant Community Development Authority

4 Requirements  for Blight Designation in Wisconsin

• property cannot be owner occuppied
• property cannot be occuppied by the owner spouse
• property cannot be occuppied by an individual related to the owner by blood, marriage, or adoption within the 4th degree of kinship
• crime rate in, on, or adjacent to the property is at least 3 times the crime rate in the remainder of the municipality in which the property is located.

Opponent Response:  If board members vote for blight, then they should resign

Wisconsin Gazette | Community group: Mt. Pleasant board members should resign if they vote to blight homeowners in Foxconn zone

Local Trend: Local Ride Share Ordinances

Legal Trend: In San Francisco, Financial Institutions are suing over the loan value of the city’s $250,000 taxi medallions which local ride share ordinances diminished the value of the medallions

Lege Trend: Leveling the playing field so that ride share and taxis are regulated equally

ABC 7 San Francisco | Credit union suing San Francisco over ‘worthless’ taxi medallions

Louisiana Legislature is considering HB 727 (2018) that will:

• pipelines and the equipment and structures
• penalize trespassers with up to 5 years in jail
• creates a new crime of critical damage to critical infrastructure
  • with up to 15 years jail time
  • a convicted person can also be charged the cost of prosecution

The Advocate | Environmentalists see proposed Louisiana law to protect pipelines and penalize protesters as overreach

Austin’s short term rental ordinance is being litigated. Texas Attorney General Paxton rational for getting involved in the lawsuit:

• Austin’s ordinance is ” “a gift to the hotel industry or Austin residents who seek reduced home prices.”
• He holds up Texans whose relatives housed troops during times of war to support a statewide histroy of short term rentals
• “By taking away its citizens’ property right to lease their homes as they see fit, the city has violated their constitutional rights,

Texas Attorney General | AG Paxton Urges Texas Appeals Court to Declare Austin’s Short-Term Rental Ordinance Unconstitutional

SE Texas Record | Paxton files brief with appeals court over Austin’s short-term rental policy

What issue are legal property rights centers looking at?  is there a public good, for eminent domain purposes,  when the public that benefits from the exported good is Europe or China?

What does this have to do with eminent domain? Pipelines, such as those that feed a LNG Export Center, are often uilt with the use of the power of eminent domain.

To exercize eminent domain constitutionally there must be a public use/public purpose for the land

How are property rights legal exeperts looking to intervene in exported oil and gas?   intervening in existing cases to aid property owners fighting eminent domain actions

Is this impacting oil and gas industry? Yes, a Texas pipeline that seeks to serve deregulated Mexican market, included a spur to a small Texas town that had never had natural gas service before to avoid the public purpose issue before the company utilized eminent domain

Houston Chronicle | Are pipeline land takings in the public interest if oil, gas headed overseas?

Refreshing our recollection, Idaho is streamling its civil and criminal trespass laws.

A theory in Idaho is that behind the bill are the Wilks brothers because:

• The brothers have bought 172,000 of Idaho forrest that was previously open and is now closed to hunters, fishermen, ATV riders
• There’s video of a Wilkes security guard having a run-in with a recreationalist
• interaction between Wilks’ lobbyists with the bills supporters 

A legisaltor told a Wilks family member that Idaho isn’t Texas, implying you cannot fence off land that was previously open to recreationalists.

Idaho Statesman | This was Texas billionaires’ role in revising Idaho trespass law

Tennessee’s bill that would make the State ‘s Historical Commission partial control over all historic property under control of local governments:  HB 2146

Concern of opponents:

•  HB 2146 would also give the TN Historical Commission new eminent domain authority
• The bill allows the stsate commission to threaten removal of officve for any local official that ignoed a state histroical commission decision

Supporters of the bill say:

• the bill is necessary because Memphis tried to remove two controversial statues

USA Today | Tennessee bill that aimed to protect controversial statues killed

Colorado Courts are grappling with “eminent domain creep.”

What’s eminent domain creep? Extending eminent domain through judicial opinion.

What’s the issue in Colorado? City A wants to buy land outside its city limits for open space and then annex the land into City A and offer developers tax incentives. City B opposes the land transaction and wants to use eminent domain to take the land for open space.

Denver Post | Eminent domain creep strikes again

Empower Texas is arguing for statewide regulations for food trucks because:

• Houston & Austin regulations, the 6th and 7th worst cities respectively, overburden these small businesses
  • Houston should eliminate “on-site bathrooms for food trucks on private property and the “electronic monitoring fee.”
• It relies on this report from the US Chamber of Commerce that says food trucks have an average of ” 45 separate government procedures over 37 days and pay over $28,000 in fees for permits, licenses, and compliance
• Texas cities should streamline inspections & permitting but abolish distance requirements 

Empower Texas | Food Truck Regulations in Houston And Austin Burden Budding Businesses

A fedceral appeals court will rule whether the power of eminent domain for a pipeline in Ohio. 

What do I need to know?

• Nexus is a partnership that is partly foreign owned
• While awaiting a court ruling, a local govenrment in the project’s path, approved a settlement on city lands, but the city legal counsel says the agreement is not elegibile for approval on a ballot
• The city’s agreement does not impact the landowner lawsuit over the question of eminent domain authority

Akron Beacon Journal | In Green, Nexus battle continues even as trees are cleared

Missouri’s House Bill 2401  (2018) limits the use of eminent domain by preventing eminent domain by :

• out of state entity
• for utility transmission lines that do not provide service to Missourians

Kirksville Daily Express | Missouri House committee seeks full K-12 funding

Background: Atlantic Coast Pipeline contractors seek access to property to begin tree-cutting, Landowners are asking a court to prevent the tree cutting.

What court? US District Court Judge Terence Boyle, a George HW Bush appointee, in the Eastern District of North Carolina

The court sides with the landowners and said: 

• landowners should have a reasonable opportunity to negotiate
• the pipeline can use eminent domain

What pre-requisities on eminent domain use are detailed by the court to protect landowners?

•  the pipeline must deposit an amount 3 times the appraised value of each parcel it plans to condemn with a federal district court clerk.

  • If the appraised value is less than $3,000, then ACP, LLC must deposit $9,003.

• The utilities also must obtain a bond twice the appraised value of the parcels

NC Policy Watch | BREAKING: Federal judge rules in favor of two landowners in Atlantic Coast Pipeline case

State: Idaho

Trespass Revision Bill that streamlines criminal, civil and parks & wildlife trespass statutes: HB 658 (2018) 

The Attorney General Opinion: Inquiry on HB 658 | Attorney General Lawrence Wasden & March 2018 Inquiry on HB 658 | Attorney General Lawrence Wasden

The 1st Amendment Issues Raised by the Idaho Attorney General: Whether the bill passes muster with the 9th Circuit’s overturning of Idaho’s Agricultural Gag law

Where: La Plata County Colorado

The land use resrictions the La Plata Liberty Coalition Opposes:

• County regulation of building height
• County regulation of exterior facade colors
• County regulations of screening structures and minimizing impacts on views
• County regulations providing visual breaks to any structures’ facade
• County regulations to avoid monotonous roof planes

3 County regulation topics that require just compensation:

• requiring “open vistas”
• preserving “scenic corridors”
• “aesthetics” 

OpEd La Plata Liberty Coalition | Durango Herald | Fossel; Getting it right! La Plata Liberty Coalition takes on the land-use code

First comes private property rights lawsuits, then comes legislative reponse.

Which local government? Indio, California

What did Indio, California do exactly? A lawfirm became the city’s official prosecutor for code enforcement cases. The lawfirm’s pitch was that it wouldn’t cost the city a dime. 

What’s the private property rights angle? The lawfirm’s deal with the city allows the lawfirm to bill a property owner its full legal fees in a prosecution which creates a personal financial stake in the cases prosecuted

What’s a legislative response?

• prohibit outsourcing enforcement
• prohibit billing for attorney fees when outsourcing enforcement

Institute for Justice | Running Afoul of the Law

online polling for eminent domain purports:

• 58% oppose eminent domain use
• 42% are yes and likely yes, but only if….

What qualifiers are offered for yes to eminent domain?

• never for private projects
• only for national emergencies
• only if compensation is drastically above fair market place
• fair compensation & a benefit for the community

isidewith | Eminent Domain Poll Results for Greg Abbott Voters 

The County: Madison County Texas

The high speed rail project: Texas Central Partners’ Dallas to Houston High Speed Rail

What action did Madison County take to block any high speed rail eminent domain use in Texas?

• county intends to maintain the roads for the use intended, and no other use

Madisonville Meteor | County takes stand on railway

Attorney fee standards in eminent domain statutes are either:

• reasonable attorney fees or costs
• attorney fees and costs “actually incurred” *

* Courts may find “Actually incurred” means invoiced and not actually paid.

The Nebraska Supreme Court in Transcanada was analyzing a “actually incurred” standard when it determined there was insufficent supporting evidence concerning the attorney fees.

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP v. Nicholas Family Ltd. P’ship, No. S-17-116 (Mar. 9, 2018) via Nebraska: Eminent Domain Fee Statute Only Requires Reimbursement Of Fees “Actually Incurred” (So Unsupported Claim Is Right Out)

State: Wyoming

The bill: WY SF 107 (2018)

How would state law preempt local fence regulations?

• prohibit any county or town from passing a fence ordinance that violates current WY code

What’s an example of a blocked ordinance under this bill? If an ordinance required wildlife friendly fences, which is an issue in Teton County

Jackson Hole News Guide | Proposed change to fence law is dead

• Land: Wildlife Preserve land at the Border
  • Eminent Domain Use: Border Wall
  • ABC 10 | Texas wildlife refuge could become fierce battleground over Trump’s proposed border wall
• Land: Landowners around the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District
  • Property Rights Issue: Whether landwoners with no well in an aquifer can protest a permit
  • Statesman | Groundwater district appeals judge’s ruling for Bastrop landowners
• Property: Deer and deer breeder licenses
  • Property Rights Issue: What will the appellate courts do with the either the ruling or compensation for the TPWD rule that transfered privately owned deer to state property
  • Statesman | Texas deer breeders challenge ruling on state’s disease regulations
• Property: Land along the proposed Dallas-Houston high speed rail
  • Property Rights Issue 1: Whether the power of eminent domain is granted to the high speed rail entity
  • Property Rights Issue 2: If the high speed rail entity has the power of eminent domain, how does its power of eminent domain work when local governments have declared certain right of ways untouchable by local government action?

City: Southington, CT

Current Blight process: Inspector visits, most property owners cure the problem. If not, police visit and issue citations with fines. 

New blight ordinance proposal: 

• In lieu of fines and a police visit, the proposal is to send the unremediated blight directly to housing court. 
• Any complaints are limited to complaints in writing. 

Southington Record Journal | Southington council considers housing court for blight cases

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Knick v. Township of Scott  which could overturn its ruling Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank.

Why does this matter to state legislatures? As ABBA sings—-m oney, money, money.    Compensation standards and awards differ. 

Besides money, why should state and local officials care? Because vocal private property rights activists also want Williamson County overturned. 

Reason | Supreme Court Will Hear Important Property Rights Case

Breitbart |  Supreme Court Takes Two Cases that Could Scale Back Federal Power

State: Ohio

Eminent Domain Use to take: 0.338 acres of land for an overpass and bridge by the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission sues and the initial eminent domain award: $11,865, the last settlement offer

The landowners appealed the initial eminent domain award to a jury that awarded: $1.1 Million in damagfes reflecting the land owner’s appraiser’s appraisal

Cleveland Scene | Jury Awards Lorain Family $1 Million in Damages in Ohio Turnpike Eminent Domain Case

During discussion of a Navarro County, TX resolution designed to protect private property rights, the Economic Development director asked this question:

• whether an economic impact study on the communities to be affected by the railway?

The response: No, such an economic impact study had not been undertaken. 

A clarification: An economic impact study, which was released in October 2015, that showed every county touched by the project — rural and urban could receive significant, long-term tax revenue benefits from the project.

Mass Transit | TX: Commissioners Deny TCR Access — No County Roads Will Close

Colorado’s proposed HB-18 1122, 1123, and 1194 are said to be bad for private proeprty rights because the bills would:

• change conservation easements from private decisions to a government process
• takes the decision making away from the landowner and gives it to the legislature

Journal Advocate | Letter: Bills threaten landowners’ privacy

Resolution 102-2018 of the Navarro County Commissioners Court seeks to protect private property rights from a high speed rail project by:

• not to closing, nor relocating, any roads for Texas Central Railroad
• no railway company has the authority to close roads, and “TCR is not a railway company”
• the county will “decline to close ANY road for route for any railway or non-railway company.”

Mass Transit| TX: Commissioners Deny TCR Access — No County Roads Will Close

What’s happening? Refreshing our recollection- a billionaire beach front property owner near San Francisco is now required by law and state court rulings to open his private beach to surfers.

What are these surfers facing with the US Supreme Court? If the Court takes the case, the issue will be whether  government can command that parties open their private property to the public without compensation.

SF Gate | Martins Beach billionaire owner takes fight over public access to US Supreme Court

Wisconsin AB 770 will “fundamentally re-write” eminent domain compensation to landowners. Here’s how:

• including in compensation “reasonable project costs” like relocating & restarting  your business
• raise the maximum compensation amounts offered to both tenants  (up tp $80K) and property owners (Up to 100K)
• retain the maximum compensation caps only for citiesm towns and villages but not for private entities or state agencies

Opponents say:

• great cost to state government, utilities & other entities that routinely buy land to make room for public projects

Supporters, like the Wisconsin Realtor Association say:

• “They are just going to have to pay for what the property is actually worth.”

Shepherd Express | Is a Last-Minute Bill to Help Developers that’s Being Jammed through the Legislature Going to Create Future Problems?

The sole committee member voting against Idaho’s RS26114 | HB 536 asked for an opinion from the Idaho Attorney General on the constitutionality of increasing trespass penalties.

Did the Idaho Attorney General find the trespass increases constitutional? No

What constitutional issues did the Idaho Attorney General raise? “(The bill), as written, appears to be overly broad as it proscribes a great amount of lawful conduct and runs afoul of First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment protections”

Refreshing our recollection on informed:intel, February 12, 2018

Increasing Trespass Penalties & Fees to Protect Property Rights. Read the Bill from the West. 

Idaho is considering RS26114 | HB 536 that will set trespass fees:

• $50 to $500
• increased fees for intentional trespass
• a 3rd offense would be a felony

The bill’s author, a rancher, said of current trespass laws:

• the laws are a patchwork
• the orange markings property owners are required to put up every 660 feet are onerous
• recreational trespass penalties are higher than criminal trespass penalties

  in addition to streamlining penaltiesalso requires:

• property owners to mark property at property boundaries, access points and streams.

AP | New Bill Would Tweak Idaho’s Trespassing Laws

Spokesman Review | Trespass 3 times and you’d face a felony under new Idaho proposal

Kansas is considering House Bill 2506 (2018) that excludes the following from blight designations:

• less than 15 month vacancy when there are unpaid taxes on the property
• if there are legal disputes over the property like probate or title issues its not eligible for blight
• if an owner confirms in writing that the issues will be fixed within 90 days
• requires that if a code violation triggers blight designation, then there has to be a health or safety risk
  • ex:  inadequate drainage would no longer trigger. a blight designation

Hays Post | From the Dome to Home: Waymaster newsletter

AirBnB announced it would utilize the following business policies and protocols to feret out sex traffickers utilizing short term rentals.

Or, in tech speak, they will “leveraging the innovation of the sharing economy” to:

• combine its existing risk analysis by
  • screening every host and guest
  •  trawling through photos to check for signs of exploitation
• utilizing “data and insight from Polaris, a charity which runs the US National Human Trafficking Hotline”

Telegraph | Airbnb promises to prevent ‘pop-up brothels’ at its rental properties

Utah’s HB 361 (2018) requires:

• that eminent domain laws, including legal process and procedure, apply to billboard relocation 
  • this engages city council members in the process instead of non-elected employees
  • providse stronger guidance for compensation
• if there is no agreement on sign price or relocation within 90 days, then the billboard comapny can relocate it. 
• blocked signs can be relocated and raised

Opponents say:

• Using eminent domain laws will add years to the process of relocation
• It allows for unilateral conversion to digital signs

Opponents, local governments, point to the following campaign contributions from supporters:

• $1,700 to House Majority Whip Francis Gibson, sponsor of the current bill
• a combined $79,630 to 75 of Utah’s 104 legislators
• gave the 3rd largest amount of any donor in UT

Salt Lake Tribune | Cities say big-donor billboard firms push sneaky bill to allow bigger, lighted displays without local OK

84% of Texas land base is farm, ranch or timber and Texas legislators and regulators should think of land as infrastructure like:

• Colorado that dedicates lottery revenue to private land conservation
• Ohio that allows municipal water utilities  to get lower interest rate on loans for plant upgrades in exchange for funding land protection
• Better funding of the  Texas Farm & Ranch Lands Conservation Program

Trib Talk |Blair Calvert Fitzsimmons|  Land is the state’s most critical infrastructure

South Dakota Legislature is considering HB 1184 (2018) that will move cow manure through new pipelines.

3 Legislative fixes to secure private proeprty rights have been suggested:

• Provide for compensation to a landowner for the use of private property based on a royalty system
• Require a legislative finding that “a private landowner’s property rights may be infringed in order to preserve the general public welfare (not private welfare.)”
• Require the eminent domain process make a “finding that property rights may be imposed upon to preserve the general public welfare.”

Green Sheet Farm Forum | Ganje: Dispelling the myth that South Dakota is a private property state

Refreshing your recollection, Lege Trend. New Eminent Domain for Animal Poop Pipelines. The bill does what?! 

Davis:  Eminent Domain should not used by private entities

Laningham:   No eminent domain for the bullet train, which is not a public benefit

Raney:  taking someone’s property should be a respectful negotiation that satisfies the landowner

Texeira: follow the law and properly compensate landowners, otherwise landwoners should get a good lawyer

Bryan Eagle | Rep. John Raney faces three GOP challengers for District 14 House seat; One Democrat running

What’s the background?

• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department promulgated rules to curtail chronic wasting disease
• Some deer breeders sued to stop the rules.
• Lower Court upheld the rules
• An appeal by deer breeders alleges property rights violations

What are the property rights claims in the appeal to the 3rd Court of Appeals? 

• There is a property interest in deer breeding
• There is a property interest in Texas Parks and Wildlife licenses
• The Texas rules refer to deer as “private property”

As private property, the rules amount to a taking of private property without just compensation.

Deer Breeders brief to the 3rd Court of Appeals

Statesman | Texas deer breeders challenge ruling on state’s disease regulations

Lawsuits in California allege that homes built before 1981 containing lead paint are a public nuisance.

A public nuisance in California can be remedied by taking the property by eminent domain. 

A public nuisance can also be remedied by criminal charges against the property owner, foreclosure, special taxes to resolve the nuisance, orders to vacate or demolish, loss of tax deductions,  mandatory disclosure on real estate transactions, and a listin gin a public data base.

Legislative solution:

•  Healthy Homes and Schools Act, a November 2018 ballot proposition
• Healthy Homes and Schools Act would preempt the court decision
• Healthy Homes and Schools Act provides $2 billion in funding

Sacramento Bee | The courts are risking California home values. Lead paint measure just aims for a fix

The City Ordinance: Miami Shores, FL prohibits front yard vegetable gardens and places a fine of 450/day for people with productive front yards

The State Preemption: SB 1776

SB 1776 does 3 things:

• Establishes a state interest in sustainable cultivation of fruits and vegetables
• Prohibits local regulation of vegetable gardens
• Existing local regulations are void and unenforceable

Miami Herald | Supreme Court settles food fight, leaves ban on front-yard veggie gardens intact

Idaho is considering RS26114 | HB 536 that will set trespass fees:

• $50 to $500
• increased fees for intentional trespass
• a 3rd offense would be a felony

The bill’s author, a rancher, said of current trespass laws:

• the laws are a patchwork
• the orange markings property owners are required to put up every 660 feet are onerous
• recreational trespass penalties are higher than criminal trespass penalties

  in addition to streamlining penaltiesalso requires:

• property owners to mark property at property boundaries, access points and streams.

AP | New Bill Would Tweak Idaho’s Trespassing Laws

Spokesman Review | Trespass 3 times and you’d face a felony under new Idaho proposal

The North Jersey editorial board opposed the taking of private property by a for-profit developer to build between 22 and 29 low- to moderate-income apartments in a mixed use retail and market rate housing development.

The opposition:

• Affordable housing is not a public use for eminent domain
• Its iffy if the properties taken are blighted
• handing private property, seized by emient domain, to a private developer doesn’t fly

North Jersey | Editorial: In Emerson, eminent domain or land grab?  

State: Virginia

The bill:  SB 308 allows you to drive while intoxicated if and only if:

• you are drunk driving on your own residential property
• you are drunk driving on the curtilage of your own residential property

Washington Post | Bill allowing drunken driving on private property passes

South Dakota’s House transportation Committee moved out HB 1184 (2018) that will move cow manure through new pipelines.

What’s the opposition to cow manure pipelines?

• opposition rooted in the new grant of eminent domain authority
• its expanding eminent domain to something that isn’t an utility & doens’t serve a public use

How would these poop pipelines work?

• pipelines of animal manure from one farmer
• would run through neighbors’ road ditches
• to bring fertilizer to farmed fields

What do supporters say?

• improves safety on rural roads
• reduces road wear onn rural roads
• 1 pork producer says he annually pumps 4.5 million gallons of animal waste, or enough to fill 700 semi trailers

Watertown Public Opinion | Piping livestock waste along highway ditches divides state legislators

Tennessee HB 2044 (2018) & Tennessee SB 2566 (2018) require annual reporting by the state Finance Commissioner concerning how much Tennesssee spends acquiring property via eminent domain. 

Tennessee is considering a bill that would grant the state eminent domain authority, retroactively, over conferederate statues.

The Properties Act would apply to statues on land that the state government previously but not currently owns.

WMC 5 | Proposed bill could grant state eminent domain over Confederate statues

California High Speed Rail, Phase 1, will  face an audit after these 3 things happened:

• Projected costs for phase 1 of California’s high speed rail have risen by $3 Billion
• A bipartisan group of legislators requested a formal audit
• Concerns that the project will need state subsidies

Due to the projected cost increase, the audit will make the following recommendations:

• how to accelerate the project’s timeline
• reduce costs and identify other sources of revenue
• best practices for approving contract cost changes, including eminent domain costs
• economic benefits of the project to communities

California Eminent Domain Project | HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO FACE AUDIT AFTER RISING COSTS

Kenosha, Wisconsin is re-working its billboard ordinance. 

Kenosha is ooking to balance the interests of business v. public good v. property rights. 

In this balancing act, Kenosha is looking at:

• 2015 US Supreme Court ruling that says signs can’t be regulated based on content
  • Reed v. Town of Gilbert, AZ
• Future sign ordinances will cover everythign from ground level signs to billoards
• How to craft a sign ordinance that avoids costly litigation

Kenosha News | Digital billboards shine a light on Kenosha’s sign ordinance

Who: Opponents to the Dakota Access Pipeline from Iowa + Indigenous Iowans and others from across the Midwest

Why: to protest the four-state pipeline eminent domain

Where: Protesting eminent domain at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis at the US Bank Stadium.  U.S. Bank has a banking relationship with the pipeline company

Des Moines Register  | Iowa environmentalists heading to Super Bowl to protest Dakota Access pipeline

A Louisiana Court ruled that  Public Records Laws Not Applicable To Private Pipeline Company.

Arguments for Open Records: If the entity performs a governmental role, like taking property, it should be subject to open records

The Court’s response— there is no basis for applying open records requirements in this matter.

Red River Radio | Judge Rules Public Records Laws Not Applicable To Private Pipeline Company

The Port had the power to use eminent domain on a 4:3 vote.

• This issue will be re-litigated during a re-hearing.
• The re-hearing will focus on whether if the condemning entity turns the property over to a private company to operate, is the eminent domain use justified?

As for compensation, the Port that was acquired didn’t receive just compensation.

The case:  St. Bernard Port, Harbor v. Violet Dock Port, Inc.

Owners Counsel | Louisiana Supreme Court Decides St. Bernard Port, Harbor v. Violet Dock Port, Inc.

The New Orleans Advocate | St. Bernard’s seizure of private port didn’t violate law, but price was too low, high court says

Ohio Legislature is considering HB 482 to expedite blight remediation.

HB 482 will:

• Cut in 1/2 the amount of time a property owner has to remediate blight from 60 days to 30 days
• Cuts in 1/2 the amount of time to hold a hearing on the property from 28 days to 14 days
• Cuts in 1/2 the amount of time a property owner has to remediate blight if there is an injunction from 30 days to 14 days.
• The evidentiary standard to show blight: preponderance of the evidence

Previous version included a “Local Blight and Nuisance Abatement Fund” that would allow local municipalities to boost enforcement and pay for cleanups.

Columbus Dispatch | House bill targets owners of blighted properties

What’s the issue: CATO, and libertarian groups, believe that there are private proeprty rights in the internet 

What’s the rational for private property rights on the internet? the Communications Decency Act Section 230 “helps tech companies act non-neutrally toward user generated content on their platforms”

CATO highlights Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s opposition to finding private property rights on the internet.

CATO Institute | Why Is Sen. Ted Cruz so Opposed to Private Property Rights on the Internet?

Hawaii Supreme Court has found a private property right in clean air. 

What language did the Hawaii Supreme Court rely on to get here?

• Article XI, Section 9 of Hawaii Constitution provides for “the right to clean and healthful environment, as defined by laws relating to environmentl quality”
• Article 1, Section 5 of the Hawaii Constitution provides for “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”

In re Application of MAUI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LIMITED,
For Approval of the Amended and Restated Power Purchase Agreement
             With Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company.

Georgia Legislature is considering HB 679  which would prohibit annexation effective dates cannot be 90 days before a municipal election.  

Indiana is considering SB 268 would give counties permission to veto annexation if 2 of 3 county commissioners vote to block the annexation.

There’s a time limit on this veto power: 90 days.

If a private entity takes on a state function like eminent domain then…Activists in Lousiana, who are suing over the Bayou Bridge, want the energy companies that use eminent domain to be subject to the same rules the state is subject to, like open records laws.

Is a pipeline a public use? According to the activists/landowners a hospital is a public good, while a pipeline is described as:

• “We’re not talking about something that’s for the public good. The only people that are going to get rich are these rich oil execs that don’t live here.”

WKRF 89.3 | Another Bayou Bridge Lawsuit Filed

The Candidate: Ohio Governor candidate Dennis Kucinich (D)

The eminent domain use: The City of Massillon, Ohio should use eminent domain to keep the Affinity Medical Center open

The public uses: a hospital & 800 jobs

Becker’s Hospital Review | Dennis Kucinich: Eminent domain should be used to prevent Ohio hospital closure

The Patch | One Town In Northeast Ohio Could Lose 800 Jobs In March