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October 30, 2006
EMINENT DOMAINIA: Voting Booth
Poughkeepsie Journal, VOTER'S GUIDE: Comptroller
Libertarian candidate for State Comptroller John J. Cain focuses on eminent domain abuse in his party's platform. It seems that Cain and Hevesi answered the candidates' questionnaire.
US News & World Report, A Host of Questions. Voters will take on eminent domain and a lot more
Rod's Grill, in Arcadia, Calif., has really been Manny Romero's grill since he bought the place 10 years ago. And in that decade, he has built a loyal following. So when the city wanted to seize the restaurant property through eminent domain and turn it over to a nearby car dealership seeking to expand, the community objected-and the restaurant survived. "I have the same right to do business ... as the Mercedes-Benz dealership," Romero insists.
He isn't the only one chafing under the current use of eminent domain. Twelve states-including California-will vote November 7 on limiting the government's ability to regulate and seize property. The ballot measures signal outrage at the Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. New London, which seemed to broaden governmental power to take private land. But opponents of the measures see them as a misleading effort to further a radical property-rights agenda.
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Zoning? Polling suggests all four regulatory takings initiatives will pass; backers are focusing on examples of eminent domain abuse. But Howard Rich, a New York real-estate investor who has spent millions of dollars trying to get the measures on the ballot, says, "It doesn't matter if government takes your property outright or regulates it to the point of little or no value; the result is the same."Critics of the regulatory takings measures, including conservation and anti-tax groups, say they could strain government budgets or severely limit the ability to enforce environmental or zoning regulations. In Oregon, where a similar law has been on the books since 2004, the state has largely waived any sort of property restrictions rather than compensate landowners. Suzie Kunzman, an alpaca farmer in Molalla, Ore., became a cautionary tale after her neighbor tried to build a gravel mine behind her house; that issue is still unresolved.
The Arizona Republic, Prop. 207 ads don't tell complete story
Courts in the state of Arizona have already ruled that private-to-private property transfers are an illegal use of eminent domain. So why is an eminent domain abuse initiative on the ballot?
The ads for Proposition 207 may be most notable for what they don't say: much about the other part of the initiative that requires compensation for "regulatory takings."
The only commercial that mentions it briefly is the one with Richards. But that is the part of the proposition that has drawn opponents' attention. They characterize Proposition 207 as a Trojan horse: It is being sold to voters as eminent domain reform while the real danger is hidden.
Environmental groups, neighborhood associations, cities, developers, public safety associations and veterans groups warn that the measure could freeze zoning, neighborhood protections and environmental laws because of fears of costly court battles.
LA Times, Stopping the government's property grab
California's Proposition 90 is being sold as an eminent domain abuse bill, but critics say that eminent domain is just a Trojan Horse for limiting land-use regulations.
THE PROPERTY rights movement has been building for years, but the Kelo decision lighted the fuse. In some respects, the states with measures on the November ballot are taking their cue from Oregon, which for more than 30 years had the most restrictive statewide land-use regulations in the nation. Fed up with the restrictions, in 2004 voters overwhelmingly passed a retroactive measure that requires the relevant agencies to either compensate owners for their losses or waive the restrictions. Not surprisingly, most have chosen the latter course.
When made to pay for the goods it otherwise acquires through regulation, "the public," it seems, has second thoughts.
Lincoln Tribune, State News : N.C. Property Rights Coalition Releases Legislative Voter Guide
A group in North Carolina published a voter's guide which lists candidates’ positions on a potential state constitutional amendment to prevent eminent domain abuse.
Statesman Journal, Measure 39 rightly limits government power
In Oregon, Measure 39 on this year's ballot really does seem to be a straight-up effort to limit eminent domain abuse.
If you've read or scanned the other articles linked in this post, you'll know that Oregon already has some of the toughest laws in the nation requiring compensation for changes in land-use.
Posted by lumi at October 30, 2006 7:49 AM