Posted on 06/23/2005 11:54:19 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
After decision, an amendment is quickly proposed to limit powers of eminent domain
Texas' cultural commitment to private property rights surfaced quickly Thursday as a state legislator moved to blunt the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that local governments may seize land for private development.
Hours after the court's 5-4 ruling came down, Rep. Frank Corte Jr., R-San Antonio, said he would seek "to defend the rights of property owners in Texas" by proposing a state constitutional amendment limiting local powers of eminent domain, or condemnation.
Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels offered assurances that the city and county do not intend to condemn land for private development projects.
But officials in the beachfront town of Freeport, south of Houston, said they would move aggressively to condemn property owned by two seafood companies to clear the way for an $8 million private marina.
The Supreme Court ruled against a group of property owners in New London, Conn., who challenged a city plan to demolish their riverfront homes to make way for offices, a hotel and other commercial buildings.
Justice John Paul Stevens, in the majority opinion, said such projects are within the scope of a clause in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution that authorizes condemning property for "public use."
Stevens wrote that promoting economic development, the stated goal of the New London project, "is a traditional and long accepted governmental function, and there is no principled way of distinguishing it from the other public purposes the court has recognized," such as taking land for roads, parks or libraries.
In a sharply worded dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the majority's interpretation of "public use" was so broad that "the specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."
Joining Stevens in the majority were Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. Dissenting with O'Connor were Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The opinion said states concerned about excessive use of condemnation were free to pass laws restricting it, and Corte said he intended to do just that.
Corte said he would ask Gov. Rick Perry to add the condemnation issue to the agenda of the special legislative session now under way so that the proposed constitutional amendment could appear on the November ballot.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said the governor would consider requests to add items to the agenda, but probably not until legislators resolve the school finance issue. She said Perry supports property rights and was concerned about the Supreme Court ruling.
Corte said in a news release that his proposed amendment would "limit a local governmental entity's power of eminent domain, preventing them from bulldozing residences in favor of private developers."
White and Eckels said such concerns were unfounded in Houston and Harris County.
"The city of Houston has not, and likely never will, use eminent domain powers as aggressively as some cities simply for the purposes of economic development," White said in a statement. "We do respect property rights, and believe that eminent domain should not be used in a way that might simply benefit one economic interest versus another."
The mayor said, however, that he is pleased the court upheld the use of eminent domain to reduce blight.
Eckels said Commissioners Court has shown no inclination to condemn land for private development, and he would not support any move to do so.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority, empowered by the law that created it to condemn property within 1,500 feet of transit stations, is not "currently planning" to use that authority for projects along the Main Street light rail line or elsewhere, spokesman Ken Connaughton said.
Asked if the agency might exercise the authority in the future, Connaughton said, "Who knows what happens tomorrow? But there are no plans to do it."
Barry Klein, president of the Houston Property Rights Association, said he considers Metro's condemnation authority excessive. He said quasi-governmental agencies such as management districts and tax increment reinvestment zones might also try to take advantage of the court ruling.
"I'm sure there are some self-servingly creative people in the leadership of these organizations who will try to find a way to do this," Klein said.
Developer Ed Wulfe of Houston-based Wulfe & Co. said Houston's public entities have long resisted acquiring property through eminent domain unless it was for road improvements or other public uses.
Wulfe said, however, that governments and developers can use the type of condemnation cited in the New London case as a tool to redevelop inner-city neighborhoods that stand to benefit economically.
"I think on a very, very careful and selective basis it could be used to improve neighborhoods," said Wulfe. "Whether it's creating affordable housing or jobs, it could be an interesting way to remove blight."
Matthew Deal of Lewis Realty Advisors, a property appraisal and consulting firm that deals in condemnation, said Houston's new downtown sports arenas offer a good example of the benefits of local governments taking full advantage of their eminent domain powers.
The sports arenas energized parts of downtown that were "ridden with crime, boarded-up buildings and dangerous to be in," said Deal, calling the Supreme Court ruling "a score for governments and their development partners."
The case is Kelo et al v. City of New London, 04-108.
Chronicle reporters Nancy Sarnoff and Bill Murphy contributed to this report.
mike.snyder@chron.com
matt.stiles@chron.com
Notice also that only two of those judges was appointed by a DemocRAT president. Justice Kennedy was the third nominee Ronald Reagan sent up in 1987 after Bork was "Borked".
There are people in all of the parties who are dancing to the wicked tunes of others.
Thanks! And of course, any pics that I post are free to use by all. Help yourself.
PhotoShop is great therapy for high blood pressure.
Yes. It's a totally useless assurance.
It's "We own the little guy."
The cookie jar is open.
Think those are bad? Just wait till the next Big Terrorist attack.
Your post makes you look like an avid reader of Hal Lindsey. Remember that it was mainly Christian columnists who foretold the Y2K EOTWAWKI scenario.
This should be interesting.
The title is very deceptive. Just look what Perry is planning with his "super no-bid highway." We can only hope that Texas Legislators grow some balls and restrict EM in the State of Texas before Perry's Folly" begins.
"We will take things from you, on behalf of the common good."
-- Mrs. Clinton
From Baltimore:
......John C. Murphy, an attorney who represents about 20 property and business owners on the west side, said owners of small but flourishing businesses often get unfairly caught in the middle of such plans.
"This decision does not help us," said Murphy of yesterday's court ruling. His west-side clients include small shops, carryouts and variety stores.
Murphy also represents eight business owners fighting a city plan to acquire their properties as part of a major Southwest Baltimore revitalization project that will transform the vacant Uplands Apartments south of Edmondson Avenue into a mixed-income development of single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. The business owners in the Triangle, which borders the Uplands, argue that the city should not be able to seize their properties because they are not blighted.
The business owners, mainly immigrants, are "all wonderful people, and not one of them deserves to be condemned," Murphy said. "I was hopeful about this [Supreme Court] case, and this is going to make our life harder. It's the little guy who gets condemned, it's not the big businesses."
In Baltimore County, then-County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger's redevelopment strategy for the Middle River-Essex area ignited a fierce battle in 2000. Voters petitioned to referendum a bill to expand the county's condemnation powers and soundly defeated it.
Still, current and former development officials said yesterday that without eminent domain Baltimore would lack some of its most defining features, from the Inner Harbor waterfront to the office towers in Charles Center.
"Baltimore wouldn't be where it is today," said Robert C. Embry Jr., Abell Foundation president and one-time head of the city's Department of Housing and Community Development.
Over about five years, the city bought properties on roughly 150 acres around the harbor, some abandoned, others operating businesses. Eminent domain made it possible for planners to realign streets in such a way as to create public access to the waterfront and build a brick promenade. "The use of eminent domain was crucial" to that effort, said Brodie, who from 1968 to 1984 was a deputy and then commissioner of the housing and community development agency. "If we hadn't assembled all of this through eminent domain, then there would be no public edge of the water." ......
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.bz.eminent24jun24,1,5451012.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Go Corte! Tell Wimpy to stick CINTRA in his ear!
Let a business tear down an elderly persons home and see how much business they can expect from that community.
The purpose of these acts is to build a tax base, which means that business must generate a profit.
No business can enter and survive by creating such ill will with the community it exists in.
And then there is the vote against the city officials who approve of such actions.
I hope that an amendment to restrict ED will become law in Taxes (this is the new spelling of the state name due to the runaway spending of the state and localgovernemnts). But I have little faith in the state legislature or that $50 haircut on a $5 brain governor we have.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Perry has got the legislatures there for a special session, time to move on this is NOW.
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