(February 25) - Frank Beckmann discusses how Detroit might try to relocate residents with Alan Ackerman, a nationally recognized eminent domain attorney.
As heard on WJR 760 Talk/News
Bing's staff said the mayor is in the beginning stages of forming a plan and cautioned it's too early to exclude options, including closing parts of the city, using condemnation or seizing land through eminent domain.
But Bing is beginning to employ a targeted approach. His staff is already targeting neighborhoods with most of the roughly $60 million in stimulus money the federal money has provided for demolitions and rehabs. Staffers say Bing is considering earmarking federal block grant funds -- which fund nonprofits that provide everything from tax preparation to mentoring programs -- for certain neighborhoods.
"The first priority of any plan will be taking down buildings that pose a public safety threat," according to a written statement from the mayor's office. "The plan that follows will have broad input from city departments, the community and land use experts outside city government."
The City administration of Detroit has taken 180° turn from where it stood three years ago. Over half the City Council is now gone and a new Mayor is taking a serious look at what is left of the City.
The most recent proposal is one in which, effectively, neighborhoods would simply be closed, with the remaining property being acquired by eminent domain. This is a very harsh way to go, but it is likely constitutional. The need for elimination of blight includes being able to have the funds necessary to eliminate blight wherever possible. In the case of Detroit, there are many neighborhoods that have so deteriorated it is rational to simply seek closure of the neighborhood itself.
Hopefully, fair market value will be paid in the process.
Consumers Energy says it plans to implement an interim natural gas rate increase of $89 million next month.
The utility says the change would increase a residential customer’s bill by about $3.50 a month, but because of lower natural gas costs the average monthly bill will be slightly lower than last winter.
The comment that Consumers successfully increased rates when the summer prices turn out to be lower than the winter prices is fascinating. Is this sort of a “head I win, tails you lose" situation?
The utilities are avaricious in their desire to have gas storage, receive a gate fee as the gas comes in and out, and singularly jockey a little extra money along the way. Is this really what is contemplated in the pro-utility federal legislation allowing FERC to provide condemnation authority in both the state and federal courts?
What litigation?
The DeVries Company acquired 38 Front Street in 1997 for approximately $850,000. In 2001-02, DeVries filed suit against the Michigan Department of Transportation, claiming that the S-Curve reconstruction had moved the highway so close to the building that it was now unusable as a multi-purpose facility. In 2002, a Kent County Circuit Court jury agreed with Mr. DeVries and awarded the company $578,000 in compensation for the diminished value of his building. At trial, it was determined that the building and property had been worth $2.3 million but were now worth $1.732 million.
What is the property worth today?
2009 State Equalized Value for taxation purposes is $751,000 (one-half of $1,502,600).
Grand Valley has offered to purchase the site for $2.3 million, based on a recent third-party appraisal.
Here we go again. A local paper is attempting to abort a fair trial for a property owner in the name of the “public good”. The writer should know that tax assessments are not admissible and frequently totally unrelated to value in eminent domain proceedings. Local papers should spend more time looking at public officials conduct instead of attacking owners simply in the way of the proposed project.
The DM&E’s new owner, the Canadian Pacific Railroad, has no immediate plans to build the line. The railroad has dropped lawsuits in Wyoming seeking condemnation authority there.
Delaney indicated he is inclined to remand the appeal to the Transportation Commission.
If the land isn’t needed for public purpose in the foreseeable future, Delaney said it raises the question of the necessity for condemnation.
“That must be considered by the board before me,” Delaney said.
The article raises two interesting condemnation issues.
First, is a delay or uncertain future completion of the project mean there is not necessity? States have different rules on whether a taking is appropriate when there is a time delay or project uncertainty. Some States reject the validity of the acquisition, others maintain if the proposed use is a public use, that is enough.
The second is the deference the Federal Court will give to the state agency making the original eminent domain necessity finding of a public use. There may be situations where the courts may find an action appropriate or inappropriate without returning the case to the local agency for a determination of the validity of the eminent domain action. This may be such a situation.
BENTON HARBOR - People who own property just east of the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport have until June 26 to accept a one-time offer of $5,350 for air space above their land or risk a lesser price later.
The price could be higher in a few cases through eminent domain, but in most it likely would be considerably less, he said. The easements are needed to meet height requirements for planes that will take off from the expanded runway once it is built.
He said the $5,350 offer to each of the 160 property owners involved is based on a market analysis and typical easement value. The easements allow airport workers - at the convenience of the landowner - to go on the property to trim or cut down trees as needed. The lifetime easement goes with the property if the property is sold.
Scherwitz said all property owners in the easement area were notified by mail about the airport's need to buy air space and were invited to a meeting earlier this week. He said about 50 of the 160 property owners in an area east of North Pike Street already have taken the offer and gotten a $500 down payment. The balance will be paid in about six weeks, Scherwitz said.
Scherwitz said the voluntary easement program saves the airport money because it eliminates the need for individual appraisals, while offering a fair price to owners, he said.
"We'll work with the homeowners. We wanted the voluntary offer to be attractive to people so it would reduce our paperwork. Some have asked us to please remove whole trees," he said. "We also will provide homeowners with a list of trees that, if they want to replant, won't grow very high but will provide shade. We're not pressuring anybody. We're here to answer questions. I'm the rumor buster. We want people to have good information."
The notion of the universal “voluntary offer” does not fulfill the requirement that properties are individually analyzed. However, under Michigan law the process saves the condemner the unnecessary costs of attorney fees and appraisal costs for itself and additional reimbursements to the owner.
There are some substantial issues raised in what are considered 'small' airport easement acquisitions. What are the increased noise and other environment nuisance factors? What are the damages for the loss of the height limitations? What is appropriate just compensation?
The Federal Highway Administration has issued a Record of Decision, giving its approval for the $553 million expansion of the Blue Water Bridge Plaza.
The Record of Decision, one of the final steps in the project's planning phase, was was signed Tuesday by James Steele, administrator of the FHA's Michigan division.
Officials with the Michigan Department of
Details will be posted as they become available.
Now that that the Record of Decision has been issued, one would hope that MDOT moves forward to construction in a decisive manner. Delay will be harmful to not only the individuals and companies losing their property, but to all of Port Huron, which has been under a dark cloud of project uncertainty for over five years.
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP -- The Ottawa County Road Commission said it needs the property where a popular dry cleaner has been in business for nearly two decades for a project to widen a portion of River Avenue to seven lanes just north of the bridge separating the township from Holland.
However, Sheldon Cleaners' property owner isn't willing to part with the land at the southwest corner of River and Douglas Avenue without a fight.
The Road Commission has filed suit in Ottawa County Circuit Court to acquire the property at 118 Douglas Ave, offering $430,000 price for the 0.16-acre site. Kentwood-based P&L Co., which owns the property and leases it to Sheldon Cleaners, has sued the Road Commission, claiming the commission reneged on an agreement that Sheldon Cleaners could relocate onto an adjacent parcel.
The property was owned by the Road Commission, but was sold last year to the Geenen DeKock Group, LLC, for $214,850, county records show.
"Money is not the issue here," said Louie Cares, co-owner for both Sheldon Cleaners and P&L. "We want what (the Road Commission) promised us."
The Holland Township site is one of Sheldon Cleaners' top three locations among its 30 stores in West Michigan, Cares said.
"It's an antiquated intersection, and the time is now to start modernizing it and improving it," said Jim Bidol, an attorney representing the Road Commission in the eminent-domain case.
The $1.35 million project, which would widen River from five to seven lanes from Howard Avenue to the CSX railroad tracks just north of Douglas, is planned for late summer construction, according to the Road Commission.
One needs to look at the pleadings involved in this case. The taking of the whole property is, seemingly in part, to provide the remainder to an owner of an adjacent parcel in order to redevelop. Only a part of the parcel is needed for the road widening, with the remainder being taken to aid the developer who owns property in the area.
This is not what was contemplated in a recent state constitutional amendment. Further, the Michigan Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act provides that excess land should not be taken to make the project more profitable for the governmental agency acquiring the property.
The skyline in Michigan's rural Thumb could look a bit like historic Holland a few years down the road under DTE Energy Co.'s announced plan to install 125 wind turbines in Huron County by 2015 -- and 280 within two decades.
DTE Energy officials told Huron County commissioners the company must add 1,200 megawatts of green power to meet the state's new energy mandate. State rules require utilities to provide 10 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2015.
The Huron County wind turbines eventually could provide 4 percent to 4.5 percent of the company's total power, DTE says.
The Detroit-based utility now generates about 1 percent of its power from renewable energy sources, said Grady Nance, manager of DTE Energy Renewable Energy Development. He said DTE's goal is to have about 3 percent of its electricity generated from renewable energy sources by 2012.
"We're going to be running hard to do that," the Huron Daily Tribune quoted him as telling the county board March 17.
State law requires DTE to buy at least half of the remaining 9 percent of total power that has to come from renewable energy sources from a third party. DTE says it seeks to produce the other half of the renewable energy from its own projects.
It said it will do so primarily through commercial-scale wind projects and some smaller solar projects.
"We will have about 565 (megawatts) of wind energy on our own" in Huron County by 2028, Nance said.
DTE has about 55,000 acres of land easements signed, with about 7,000 more acres under negotiations, according to The Saginaw News.
In response to questions from commissioners, DTE officials said the utility expects to cap the renewable portion of its generating capacity at 10 percent. That's because green power still costs more than power from coal and nuclear plants.
DTE said construction should create about 200 jobs, with groundbreaking expected in 2011.
The new energy plan will affect our communities. Detroit Edison will build one of Michigan's first windmill projects, hopefully not to the detriment of the owners.
The brother and sister inherited the Port Huron home when their father died several years ago. Now, they could be forced to move based on the newest plan for the Blue Water Bridge Plaza expansion.
"We don't want to move," said Marvin Beadle, 42, looking at a map of the plan, part of the project's final environmental impact statement released Tuesday.
"We want to keep our property," said Verna Beadle, 50.
The Beadles are among a small group of homeowners -- about a dozen -- who, under a previous plaza plan, would have stayed in their homes and not been included in the project's footprint. Among those homeowners, there is conflict about what is best: to have their property bought at a premium by the state or to remain in their homes.
Local officials fought for the homes -- located in two clusters on the south side of the plaza -- to be bought, fearing that if left behind, residents would have to endure years of construction and then life on the fringes of a major international border crossing.
Project Manager Matt Webb said the Michigan Department of 
"We went back and tried to reduce the footprint and make it as small as possible," he said.
St. Clair County Administrator Shaun Groden said the message officials received from residents left behind by the previous plan was: "Oh my God, they are leaving us behind, and we are going to have to live in this monstrosity."
He said people were upset about what Port Huron City Councilman Jim Fisher once described as the "Swiss cheese" effect: Two pockets of homes left behind.
The project will bring to ground level and increase the size of the plaza from 18 to 56 acres. The 56-acre plan, officials said, is much better than the 90-acre one proposed several years ago and better than the 65-acre plan proposed last year.
During the comment period for the draft environmental impact statement, the majority of the homeowners in the area where the Beadles live said they would rather have their houses razed than be left behind, Webb said.
There are some perks to being relocated. The state will pay moving costs and 125% of fair-market value for owner-occupied homes, Webb said. For other homes, such as rentals, owners will get fair-market value, he said.
Meanwhile, state Rep. John Espinoza, D-Croswell, introduced legislation Thursday that would give tax incentives to people and businesses that develop the area once plaza construction is finished.
The plaza plan released Tuesday will be open for public comment through May 4. Then, the Federal Highway Administration is expected to issue a "Record of Decision," which will, among other things, allow the state to move forward with acquiring properties.
Construction, which will begin with rebuilding 2 ½ miles of the Interstate 69/94 expressway, is set to start in 2011 and wrap up in 2016 or 2017.
The single most pressing problem is getting the project determined with certainty and soon. Delay in deciding what is to be taken will leave the Port Huron neighborhoods surrounding the Bridge in shamble.
East Village-area property owners upset about a recent Lansing State Journal letter to the editor by an East Lansing official had their say Tuesday at the East Lansing City Council meeting.
In the letter, East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton responded to allegations that the city intends to use blight designations and eminent domain to seize land from property owners.
The property owners in attendance Tuesday said they felt they were being portrayed as trying to extort money from the government. Staton responded by saying his comments were directed to the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy, an organization that had published a separate letter in various newspapers last month.
The land in question is located at the proposed site of the city’s East Village development project, which would replace several student housing units and businesses, including Cedar Village apartments and McDonald’s.
San Diego-based Pierce Education Properties currently is 12 months into a 30-month deadline to complete the land acquisition of the properties located in the planned East Village area but hasn’t acquired any properties.
East Lansing should carefully limit its land planning techniques. The harm which can be done by the threat of utilizing the Takings Clause is limited to true Public Use takings and not pipedreams of planners and politicians.
The Ottawa County Road Commission said it needs the property where a popular dry cleaner has been in business for nearly two decades for a project to widen a portion of River Avenue to seven lanes just north of the bridge separating the township from Holland.
However, Sheldon Cleaners' property owner isn't willing to part with the land at the southwest corner of River and Douglas Avenue without a fight.
The Road Commission has filed suit in Ottawa County Circuit Court to acquire the property at 118 Douglas Ave, offering $430,000 price for the 0.16-acre site. Kentwood-based P&L Co., which owns the property and leases it to Sheldon Cleaners, has sued the Road Commission, claiming the commission reneged on an agreement that Sheldon Cleaners could relocate onto an adjacent parcel.
The property was owned by the Road Commission, but was sold last year to the Geenen DeKock Group, LLC, for $214,850, county records show.
"Money is not the issue here," said Louie Cares, co-owner for both Sheldon Cleaners and P&L. "We want what (the Road Commission) promised us."
The Holland Township site is one of Sheldon Cleaners' top three locations among its 30 stores in West Michigan, Cares said.
"It's an antiquated intersection, and the time is now to start modernizing it and improving it," said Jim Bidol, an attorney representing the Road Commission in the eminent-domain case.
The $1.35 million project, which would widen River from five to seven lanes from Howard Avenue to the CSX railroad tracks just north of Douglas, is planned for late summer construction, according to the Road Commission.
Deals and promises with the governmental authority should be carefully drafted and authorized by the appropriate governmental authority.
Environmentalists dream of a bigger and “smarter” electric grid that could move vast amounts of clean electricity from windswept plains and sunny deserts to distant cities.Skip to next paragraph
Such a grid, they argue, could help utilities match demand with supply on the hottest afternoons, allow customers to decide when to run their appliances and decrease the risk of blackouts, like the one that paralyzed much of the East in 2003.
The Obama administration has vowed to make the grid smarter and tougher, allocating $11 billion in grants and loan guarantees to the task in the economic stimulus package passed by the House last week.
But it will take a lot more than money to transform the grid from a form that served well in the last century, when electricity was produced mostly near the point of consumption, and when the imperative was meeting demand, no matter how high it grew.
Opposition to power lines from landowners and neighbors, local officials or environmental groups, especially in rural areas, makes expansion difficult — even when the money for it is available. And some experts argue that in the absence of a broader national effort to encourage cleaner fuels, even the smartest grid will do little to reduce consumption of fuels that contribute to climate change.
In fact, energy experts say that simply building a better grid is not enough, because that would make the cheap electricity that comes from burning coal available in more parts of the country. That could squeeze out generators that are more expensive but cleaner, like those running on natural gas. The solution is to put a price on emissions from dirtier fuels and incorporate that into the price of electricity, or find some other way to limit power generation from coal, these experts say.
The New York Times, which generally holds itself out to be the most accurate of media, recently prepared an article which is an offering on how the electric transmission industry has great problems in property acquisition. It utilized the comments of Mr. Welch, President of the International Transmission Company, stating that one owner held up a 26-mile line for three years. To the contrary, Mr. Welch fails to notify the New York Times writer, Matthew Wald, that the line traversing the turning point was already serviced by an existing Detroit Edison line. Further, rather than going parallel to the Detroit Edison line, the International Transmission Company determined it would be best to try to save money by using public right-of-way (roadways), although creating danger to the adjacent traffic, attempting to avoid paying compensation to those who would be harmed.
Finally, there seems to be a lack of research in the article given that one of the three members of the Michigan Public Service Commission strongly objected to the routing proposed by ITC. Interestingly, the Public Service Commission (MPSC) serves generally as a rubber stamp for engineering plans of creating proposed routes. Here the MPSC did not act as a rubber stamp despite providing great deference to utilities.
LEONIDAS TOWNSHIP — Progress must march on, but few want it to march through their backyard.
That's the sentiment of residents living in the path of a planned 25- to 30-mile electric power transmission line.
The line, to be built by the Novi-based ITC Holding Co., would cross through Mendon and Leonidas townships in St. Joseph County and Matteson and Batavia townships in Branch County. The $13 million to $15 million project would connect the Consumers Energy-owned Simpson Substation in Mendon Township to the Batavia Substation, which is owned jointly by ITC and Consumers, in Batavia Township.
ITC will install several galvanized steel poles, each 84 feet tall, along the route. The exact path has yet to be determined and will depend on the results of easement negotiations with landowners, said Roger Morgenstern, ITC community affairs area manager. The final path will determine how many poles are needed, Morgenstern said. He said poles typically are 500 feet apart.
The Battle Creek Enquirer article raises a number of very serious issues, not only for the citizens along the proposed ITC line between Batavia and Simpson, but also for all the citizens of Michigan.
The comment that ITC has received federal regulatory approval comes as a complete surprise. There has been no filing of an environmental impact statement so far as the public knows, nor has there been a federal energy regulatory commission process fulfilled.
Mr. Morgenstern and the ITC-appointed Citizens Advisory Citizens Council properly moved the lines out of Colon so that a community would not be totally destroyed. This does not signify Aflexibility,@ but rather prudence.
A recent attorney general opinion (not binding law) that MPSC approval is not required may place ITC in a situation opening itself to necessity challenge. Wayne County v Hathcock contemplated regulatory commission review of takings, especially when there is a profit motive in the taking.
The issues of the ITC extension from Batavia to Simpson will take months, if not years, to work out. ITC would have been better off obtaining MPSC approval.
The final comment relates to the notion that the acquisition of these properties will be through a process in which ITC will Anegotiate.@ MCL 213.55 is clear in its intent in language. Prior to making a good faith written offer, ITC must obtain a statement of value or appraisal. It is unlikely that either has been done.
An eminent domain bill will head back to Delaware's Senate for a second time. Senator Rob Venables is sponsoring the bill.
It would make it harder for the government to acquire residential and business properties and then turn them over to private developers. Last year, Governor Ruth Ann Minner vetoed the same bill. It is scheduled for a hearing next week.
Delaware is at the pinnacle of inflexible opposition to any limitation of the government's right to unfettered discretion in taking any property it desires to take. The agencies will fight the proposed legislation 'tooth and nail'.
Canadian officials are prepared to start a $54 million (Canadian) project to revamp the Blue Water Bridge Plaza in Point Edward.
The project includes a 120,000-square-foot, four-story building to house Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, commercial brokers and Blue Water Bridge Canada administrative offices. The project also includes building seven new inspection lanes for commercial traffic.
The project will start this month and be completed in December 2010. The new building will be west of the existing Customs building.
Chuck Chrapko, president and chief executive officer of Blue Water Bridge Canada, said travelers to Ontario barely will notice the project has started.
"It will not divert traffic in any way," he said.
The work is the first phase of what is expected to be a three-phase project costing a combined $110 million.
Phase two includes building secondary processing stations for passenger vehicles and 14 new inspection lanes. Phase three includes new toll booths and toll offices and updating infrastructure.
At the end of the project, which could take between six and 10 years, virtually everything on the bridge plaza will be replaced, Chrapko said.
Timelines for the second and third phases have not
been established. Chrapko said the project is designed in such a way that each phase is not required to be finished but can be depending on need and money.
The design of the new plaza, Chrapko said, increases security by making it less open. Currently, people can walk easily across the plaza from other places, such as the Duty Free parking lot. That won't be possible on the new plaza.
All one needs to do is travel on the Blue Water Bridge. This bridge, which was once a beautiful alternative to going through Detroit to New York State or Toronto, now maintains lines through Detroit Customs to the Canadian side of the bridge. Clearly, no PR blitz is needed for one to understand that something must be done with the plaza. It is simply a decision of how best to maintain the City of Port Huron's commercial existence while substantially interfering with commercial activity because of the acquisition/eminent domain process.
The bridge clearly will hurt the United States far more than Canada because Canada has been attempting to purchase the land over the years. Canada probably destroyed values by the process, but the same process has been used by the Detroit International Bridge Company for the past 20 years; with some results not totally destructive of individual property rights but other results which created great harm to neighborhoods.
The State Bar of Michigan will commemorate the 1981 Poletown decision (Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit) on Tuesday, Dec. 2, as part of its Michigan Legal Milestones program highlighting significant legal cases in state history. A bronze marker will be unveiled at the ceremony that will take place at Polish National Alliance Council 122, located at 10211 Conant Street in Hamtramck. The plaque will be permanently installed at Zussman Park outside Hamtramck City Hall at a later date.
What happened in Hamtramck nearly three decades ago still reverberates today. In an effort to bolster Detroit's crumbling economic base, a working-class neighborhood known as Poletown was demolished to make way for a new General Motors plant. This action was challenged by homeowners and small businesses in the area, but was rebuffed by the Michigan Supreme Court in a landmark 1981 decision. The ruling had national ramifications and set a new standard by expanding the power of eminent domain and allowing the definition of public use to include economic development. In 2004, the Court reversed itself.
MICHIGAN CITY - A judge has ordered owners of the Weber Sign Service and Icehouse properties to select an appraiser to determine the value of properties at the corner of Michigan Boulevard and Eighth Street.
It's a win for the city, which has been trying to acquire those properties to begin development of the Trail Creek Corridor and had resorted to eminent domain to acquire them. The owners had challenged that in court.
Lake County Superior Court Judge Calvin Hawkins ordered both the property owners and the city to select their own appraisers by Oct. 27. The two appraisers will select a third appraiser and the three will agree on the property's value and submit it to the court by Nov. 2.
The values on urban renewal (park) cases can fall from extremely high to valueless, totally dependent on the short and long term demand of the area marketplace. The proximity to a casino raises additional issues, making the valuation process all the more difficult.
An eminent domain claim was granted Monday in Lenawee County Circuit Court, giving the Adrian & Blissfield Rail Road Co. a small lot in Blissfield it says is needed for a new depot.
Attorneys for lot owner Daniel Hacker objected, arguing the railroad has not proven a need for his property.
The price to be paid for most of the 100-foot square lot on East U.S. 223 in the village will be decided later. The railroad initially offered $19,200 plus a 25 percent “compromise incentive.” Hacker claimed in a written response that he invested $40,000 to $50,000 in buying the lot and repairing a building on it.
Here we have a railroad with clear powers under Surface Transportation Board (Federal) and Michigan authorization to take for railroad purposes.
The owner clearly has a gripe about the just compensation. However, the authority to take under the circumstance set forth in the attached article is clear.
A legislative impasse continued Tuesday morning over the location and ownership of a proposed second bridge across the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, threatening to derail the 2009 state transportation budget and funding for road projects already under construction.
The transportation budget must be approved by the House and Senate before Oct. 1 to avoid a shutdown of Michigan's Department of Transportation and all state highway projects.
Senate Republicans want to add a stipulation to the budget bill that prohibits MDOT from continuing preparations for a public bridge across the Detroit River without legislative approval.
They favor letting the owner of the Ambassador Bridge build a second, privately owned span next to the exiting bridge, using his own money, before deciding whether a publicly owned span also is needed.
When the six-member House-Senate conference committee deadlocked on the bridge issue Tuesday morning, their session was recessed. The conference committee must approve MDOT's proposed $3.6-billion budget before the full House and Senate get a chance to vote on it.
The second bridge is needed to continue growth of Michigan and Ontario. Without it, Michigan will become second tier in one more area of commerce. Is that what the citizens of Michigan want? Forget about whether Windsor got the better of the deal, instead move on for increased prosperity.
The Michigan Department of Transportation is not a perfect bureaucracy. But what it does not need is legislators nit picking at its basic decisional inclinations. After all they’re a Transportation Commission which is supposed to act as a watchdog.
…Because of the stalemate, Transportation Director Kirk Steudle notified contractors that his department may suspend operations on Oct. 1 -- when the current budget expires -- and shut down road projects across the state.
…If lawmakers can resolve their differences, the House-Senate committee could reconvene later Tuesday to approve the transportation budget. It then would have to be passed by both legislative chambers.
The Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday confirmed an earlier Wayne County Circuit Court ruling that the owners of the Ambassador Bridge don't have the power to condemn property for access improvements being undertaken through an agreement with the state.
The higher court also cited a rarely heard legal principal, "the Absurd Results Rule," to reverse part of the lower court's ruling, ordering the Detroit International Bridge Company to pay the cost of a decade long legal fight with the owners of a former duty-free store.
Appeals Court panel of judges Patrick Meter, Michael Talbot and Deborah Servitto wrote that the government never intended to extend its powers of condemnation to a private company so the expense the landowner had to bear to fight this unjust action should be born by the bridge company. To force the landowner to pay "would be patently absurd and unthinkable," the judges ruled in citing the Absurd Results Rule, which is applied to avoid results like this that are "manifestly inconsistent with legislative intent."
The bridge company had appealed the Wayne County Circuit Court ruling that threw out a condemnation lawsuit the company brought against the Commodities Export Company to obtain land the bridge owner claimed was needed for access improvements under agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation. The company claimed the state's powers to condemn property came with the state agreement. Both courts said the power belongs solely to the government.
-The power to take property requires a specific legislative authorization empowering the entity with condemnation authority. Here is a situation in which the court found that there was no statutory language allowing the private Detroit International Bridge Company to acquire by an eminent domain case.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport is expected to end a bitter battle with Romulus leaders by shelving plans for a controversial fifth parallel runway the city claimed would displace 3,500 residents, close two elementary schools and wipe out nearly 50 businesses.
Both sides expect the agreement to shift the multimillion-dollar runway concept from the airport's original master plan to one they can revisit if growth warrants. The agreement will be voted on Thursday when the Airport Authority Board is expected to meet, according to Taylor Mayor Cameron Priebe, one of five city leaders involved in the project. ...
-This should not come as a surprise. Airport traffic is down dramatically. A fifth runway at Detroit Wayne County Metro Airport would have put the airport a step ahead. However, what would it be a 'step ahead' of? The demand for flights has dwindled, so why threaten condemnation with a proposed eminent domain project?
The board overseeing the Detroit Metropolitan Airport postponed a decision Thursday on a $3.6 billion, 20-year master plan that includes the construction of a controversial runway.
As they did at the first postponement, in March, people packed the Westin Hotel awaiting the decision. The Wayne County Airport Authority board said the postponement will allow it to work with community leaders. The members are expected to take up the issue again July 24.
Many residents oppose the master plan -- especially the proposed addition of a fifth parallel runway. The proposal also includes passenger monorail and terminal expansions. Romulus officials said the runway at Eureka and Middle Belt would decimate the community, displace as many as 3,500 residents -- about 15 percent of the population -- and wipe out $114 million in tax revenues.
The 10,000-foot runway would be necessary by 2020, airport officials countered. Airport spokesman Mike Conway said the master plan is simply a guide the airport needs to give to the Federal Aviation Administration.
-The Wayne County Airport Authority did the smart thing. It delayed a project open to public ridicule until there is some certainty in the factual basis for the necessity of the project.
The need for the project is less certain given the economic issues at hand in the United States, the uncertainty of continually increasing air travel due to gas and security issues, and the uncertain status of a Northwest merger.
WASHINGTON (AP), March 6, 2008
New power line construction is more likely in the Mid-Atlantic States and the Southwest after the government on Thursday said it was pushing ahead with a plan to expand and modernize the electric grid in those areas.
The U.S. Department of Energy formally denied requests for a rehearing of a previous decision making it easier to build power lines in the designated areas, saying challenges by those who oppose new line construction were meritless.
The Energy Department has designated two "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors" over the objections of many local and state officials.
The federal government's mid-Atlantic power corridor runs from Virginia and Washington, D.C., north to include most of Maryland, all of New Jersey and Delaware and large sections of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The Southwest corridor consists of seven counties in Southern California and three in Arizona.
In deciding to go forward with the two corridors, the department issued a statement Thursday saying the findings of energy congestion in the areas "are well-founded and based on data and studies."
In that event, a failure on transmission lines in Ohio set off a chain reaction that knocked the Canadian province of Ontario off the power grid, along with parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
If state authorities do not approve any construction after a year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, may intervene and approve a grid project if the new line is deemed necessary to satisfy national power needs. Such approvals could, in theory, include the use of eminent domain law to compel private owners to sell their property.
MPSC- Michigan Case No. U-14861, February 28, 2008
The MPSC issued an order denying a request by
-An Opinion and Press Release, found under the MPSC filing, rejected the Hartland Township and owners’ challenge to the project. This is the final part of the proceeding with offers and the filing of the condemnation complaints for major transmission lines, which will destroy the aesthetic attractiveness to a number of communities in Livingston and Oakland Counties.
Ann Arbor News, January 18, 2008
A major grocery store topped by a spacious public library is the centerpiece of a vision for downtown Belleville unveiled at a special meeting Wednesday.
At a joint meeting of the Belleville City Council and Downtown Development Authority started at City Hall, Rick Walker of Walker Developments, based in Montreal, said a national grocery store chain was interested in building downtown.
"(The grocery store) would be an economic boost and a reason for people to stop in Belleville,'' said Rosemary Loria, chairwoman of the DDA.
In addition to the grocery store, Walker Developments would build about 30,000 square feet of retail space on Main Street between Fifth Street and what is now Fourth Street. Housing and office space would be built above the retail.
The new construction would eliminate several buildings, including Chase Bank on the corner of Roys and Main streets. Loria said the bank would rebuild a smaller bank next to the new construction.
The DDA would buy the property for the municipal lots, but would not do so through eminent domain, Loria said. The DDA would have to borrow money for the parking lot projects. It already plans to borrow about $5.5 million for a major reconstruction of Main Street that is planned to start this summer and may have to borrow up to $5 million more for the parking and other aspects of the redevelopment project, Loria said.
-This is an example of what protections offered by the recent Michigan constitutional amendment were intended to do. That is to protect owners' rights to property and allow the market to determine value for property rather than the an uncertain court process forcing owners to accept a government offer.
Airport Business, December 27, 2007
Faced with the possibility of losing state money for land acquisition at the airport, the Oceana County Board has approved a resolution authorizing the acquisition by Eminent Domain if necessary.
A local consultant, in airport acquisitions, commented that cases usually settle through negotiation.
While airport development always sounds attractive, one has to wonder whether, on a purely cost and benefit basis, this project makes sense. There are a number of decent airports within a half hour drive.
thetimesherald.com, November 20,2007
Mike Connell recently posed a Q and A in his article to address, in his opinion, possible issues with the Blue Water Bridge expansion. However some of the questions and answers are flawed. For example, Mr. Connell quotes the MDOT as stating that owners are better off selling the property because they obtain 125% of their own value. The problem is that the offer may be far less than 100% of the value. The 125% applies to the total amount paid, whether by settlement or trial or a simple deed. Mr. Connell forgets the rights of individual owners can be protected.
The intent of the article is to show that the government will take the property, and the owners have no rights to challenge the amounts. Further it appears from the article owners should simply succumb to the governmental desires. This is simply wrong!
There is no question about public use for the International Bridge, nor is there a question that we must secure our borders. However, there is still the requirement of "just compensation" in both the Michigan and United States Constitution.
The Monroe News recently published a very informative article on what to do when you are faced with eminent domain.
If you're approached by an oil company, gas company, or any other utility, eminent domain attorney Alan Ackerman says there are a few things you can do to ensure you're treated fairly.
Mr. Ackerman first suggested retaining a lawyer or at least consulting with one throughout the process. In most cases, he said, the entity attempting to obtain land or get easements will be responsible for homeowners' legal fees under Michigan law.
However, those who shy from attorneys also have options:
• Keep quiet, get the offer in writing and figure out what the basis for the offer is. Keeping quiet at this stage is important, said Mr. Ackerman, since whatever you say can be used later.
• Figure out exactly where the pipeline, wires, etc., are being installed. How will this affect the property next year? In 20 years? Does it destroy the farm tiles?
• Make sure you know what your local government mandates.
• Get everything in writing, make sure you can understand it and make sure it's specific. Do not sign anything until you have read it thoroughly and understand it.
• Keep the property well maintained.
• Keep in mind the people who come to negotiate the use of your property are professionals at this.
• Get an independent assessment.
• Get exact definitions.
• Beware of the tactics.
UPDATE: Right of way agencies are once again contacting owners.
Detroit News, September 19, 2007
City Council members grilled officials from Marathon Petroleum on Tuesday over the environmental impact of its $1.5 billion refinery expansion proposal and put pressure on the company to commit to hiring more Detroiters and minorities.
The project, which could bring up to 1,200 construction jobs and close to $9 million a year in taxes as well as increase gasoline supplies.
But some residents and environmental groups fear it would increase air pollution and say their southwest Detroit neighborhood is already overburdened with industry.
Company officials said they are committed to hiring Detroiters. They have scheduled job fairs and have set aside money for technical training and scholarships. The project will generate 135 permanent refinery jobs.
"The focus clearly is on Detroit residents," said Angelia Graves, a company spokeswoman.
-Marathon is still working to establish a plan, allowing for more temporary construction jobs and a number of permanent jobs. There is much to face in both the acquisition as well as construction process.
The old real estate maxim is proving itself once again - this time when it comes to installing an oil pipeline.
Although some property owners don't want any kind of expanded oil pipeline running through their yards, others are okay with it - sort of.
For Gary Doubler, location has been the sticking point in his negotiations with
The project is being referred to as the
At this point, the project is proposed; no definitive plans have been secured. The new line would follow an existing line about 70 percent of the time. The other 30 percent of the time, it would run near the existing line but has had to be rerouted in places because of easement requirements.
The new line would be a wider (24-inch) pipe that would allow more viscous Canadian crude to flow.
Chris Fox, spokesperson for Marathon Oil on the DHOUP project, said the company has been in communication with all of the property owners along the route and has been working to secure the easements since last summer.
Deborah Brown, who owns land in Frenchtown, said the money
Ms. Fox said the company still is committed to working openly with people.
-The real problem is the pipeline right of way agents are negotiating either knowingly or negligently proceeding. This is becuase there is a very specific legal process in Michigan which requires that an appraisal or statement of value be provided to an owner prior to negotiation and purchase. The oil company agents are violating a condemnation procedure intended to protect owner’s whose properties may be take for public use in this State! I understand the process may be different in Oklahoma, but that does not mean the lack of knowledge of our fair procedure should bar owners of their rights.
Detroit News, September 18, 2007
Hartland Township residents have enlisted state legislators in their battle against a plan to build overhead electric transmission lines through the county, but that's not an appropriate way to deal with the issue.
Officials in the Livingston County community and some residents have been protesting a state-approved plan for more than a year that allows ITC Transmission to install 95-foot tall power poles for the delivery of electricity to the growing area.
It is not, however, the state Legislature's job to micromanage the affairs of local communities or the companies that provide power and other services to meet their needs. That rests with the MPSC, which has already approved the project.
ITC addressed the issues and followed a MPSC request to change the route, which will add an estimated $2.2 million to the project. If forced to bury the lines, project costs will increase anywhere from $15 million to $40 million, ITC officials say. Those costs will be passed on to consumers.
-The author of this blog frequently agrees with the Detroit News Opinion page on land use. However, this time around, one is bound to disagree.
One of the few outlets we have to respond to land acquisitions is to seek relief via the legislative process. We should not be upset if the owners in this area are successful. The alternative would be no opportunity to respond to the actions taken by franchises granted by the government!
Detroit News, September 4, 2007
Marathon cleared a hurdle this morning toward a proposed $1 billion expansion of its Detroit refinery.
The expansion would add 135 jobs at the refinery and increase gasoline supplies in Michigan. The project would also create 1200 construction jobs.
Several city council members have said they have serious questions about the project's impact on the neighborhood.
-Apparently Marathon has slowed down its acquisition attempts in Monroe and Wayne Counties. Marathon is awaiting a final determination of which community will obtain the pipeline.
There are concerns about the negative impact on the neighborhood of the refinery. However, the station vis a vis the community and the brownfield cleanup may offset these concerns.
One thing is for certain, with a billion dollar proposed expansion, even if only a half tax occurs, an economic boom will occur in the local area.
The eminent domain proceeding, consisting of the condemnation necessary for the pipeline, would shift into high gear.
Sturgis Journal, August 29, 2007
ITC representatives made a return visit to Colon Township to offer an update on the proposed 138,000-volt transmission line.
ITC is trying to resolve ownership of the old railroad bed north of M-86.
ITC proposes if the railroad bed does not work, they will ask MDOT to follow.
ITC does have the right of eminent domain to condemn property ad does not need a site plan review before the township planning commission.
-The recently published article by Terry Katz in the Sturgis Journal raises more questions than the utility seems to be willing to answer. What approvals have been made to date? The utility must know that they have to offer a plan and present notice prior to initiating any action.
Does the utility intend to go around the Michigan Public Service Commission?
How will the electric company utilize the railroad right of way? Will it attempt to claim that there was no effect on the adjacent parcels if the structures are placed only within the right of way?
Setting aside the frequently challenged research of whether high voltage power lines have an effect on health, ITC must recognize that the power lines will clearly have an effect on value, whether for known or unknown fear. An article was written on this by Michael Rikon and published in an ABA Real Property Section book about ten years ago.
Monroe County Road Commission is looking at right of way issues and options to improve safety at the Sterns Rd.-US-23 interchange where a large travel center is planned. The board of County Road Commissioners heard a presentation by road agency staff on a private traffic impact study Monday night. The board took no action on the study...
The issue of using eminent domain to acquire land for widening or moving Sterns arose during the board's discussion.
Eminent domain is a legal step that allows government to acquire private land for the public good.
On April 3, the zoning board okayed a variance for Flying J to install signs at the interchange in excess of the township ordinance.
- The US-23/Sterns interchange is an excellent example of a situation in which economic development requires improved roadways. Part of the question here is whether this kind of road improvement should be an expense of the government or paid by those who are the sole beneficiaries of the improvement, in this case namely Flying J. Read Full Article
The Detroit News , May 3, 2007
A group of civic and business leaders unveiled 11 strategies that will help strengthen Metro Detroit’s economic redevelopment.
Detroit Renaissance’s strategies include developing an aerotropolis, or airport city, on land around Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports, and providing business help and financing to develop a creative corridor along Woodward that will nurture musicians, designers, artists and innovators. Read Full Article
-The notion that an aerotropolis will work in Detroit has the opportunity to promote a great success, or unmitigated failure. Properly planned and recognizing individual rights, Detroit Renaissance is leading with a rational plan to do something in a community badly needing leadership.
The Lansing State Journal, May 13, 2007
Abut 200 people attended an April 30 forum in which Mead & hunt employees presented their final studies for the airport relocation. The two proposed plans for Fitch H. Beach Municipal Airport are as follows.
The expansion would extend the runway from 3,500 feet to 5,000 feet.
-This is illustrative of how difficult it is to place an airport. Charlotte desires to move to a "regional" program, but faces the conflict of being less than 30 miles from the recently enlarged Lansing Capital City Airport. Being between Battle Creek and Lansing on I-69 makes it difficult to come to a final decision as to not only what to build but where to build it.
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