TPPF: Eminent Domain Recommendations 2015

TPPF’s legislative recommendations for eminent domain include:

Grant property owners the right to repurchase their property if the initial use of a property acquired from them through eminent domain is not the public use for which the property was acquired.
Ban the initial use of property acquired through eminent domain for any use other than the use for which it was acquired.
Change all references to in statute to “public purposes,” “public purpose,” or simply “purpose” when authorizing the use of eminent domain to “public uses” or “public use.”
The Texas Real Private Property Rights Preservation Act should be amended to apply to municipalities.

The numerical threshold of what qualifies as a taking under the Act—
a 25% reduction of the market value of the affected private real property—is an arbitrary number that should be reduced or eliminated.
Condemnors should have the ability to issue waivers as an alternative to financial compensation. Those waivers should specifically mention which property rights are being reinstated per the waiver. Doing so will allow the waiver to “run with the land” for future owners, as well as prevent munici- palities from spending more.

The next 3 recommendations apply to common carrier and Denbury Issues:

Amend statute to shift the burden of proof in all property rights cases from the land owner to the condemnor.
Reduce judicial deference to the decisions of executive agencies and local governments.
Restore the constitutional right to both own and use property. Current case law, as held by the Texas Supreme, says, “Property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested right in property uses.”

Land Use & Property Rights