Eminent Domain

[Sportin' Wood]

Anyone ever had to deal with this before?
Damn devoloper did not get his way so there going to play the eminent domain card with the county buying all there BS.
They wanna take a half acre of my propety for pennies on the dollar. Funny how there fancy little trac of boxes is presold for $400,000 a pop but my half acre is worth only $22,000

[Mandelon]

Yes. I had a fourplex that was taken/sold this way. You can appeal their offer and fight it. You get 1033 exchange capability and have 2 years to buy replacement property.
Ask for a second appraisal, or get one done on your own.

[C-2]

I work with Eminent Domain cases - fire away. What County?

[Sportin' Wood]

lots of issues on this....... Its for storm drainage but the project only serves the new tracks. It will basicly destroy the value of my ranch. It will wipe out a 100 year old grove of trees that is the big draw of the property. The trees make all the BS go away when I come home from work. I have a red tail hawk nest so I am gonna do some research on the raptor nests.
Man the whole thing just sucks... I just wanna be left the fawk alone when I am lucky enough to be home. First I can't ride dirt bikes on my property and now they take it from me... Bastards :boxingguy

[Sportin' Wood]

I work with Eminent Domain cases - fire away. What County?
Bless You! which side are you on? I'm in Rivco

[C-2]

The bad one.
Riverside County is not a client though. What stage you at? Have they adopted a resolution permitting acquistion by ED, or are they still negotiating with the property owners?

[moneypit]

Ya. Go find your self a bunch of bones and bury them all over their property. When they start digging and start finding bones, the inspectors will shut them down. Maybe that will buy you some time. They may think its an indian burial ground. (its called salting the property)

[C-2]

For starters - all eyes are on the US Supreme Court right now. They took an eminent domain case for review in february and are expected to rule by June 05. Many municipal lawyers are following this case closely since their ruling could change the manner in which eminent domain laws are applied.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/21/scotus.eminent.domain/
Moneypit
You are an interesting character. We'll have to hook up atthe poker run for a beer!
The Red Tail Hawk and bones...both are not that far off from some effective and serious wrenches that can be thrown into the mix.

[moneypit]

[QUOTE=C-2]Moneypit
You are an interesting character. We'll have to hook up atthe poker run for a beer!QUOTE]
Sounds good to me. I have reserved the biggest room at the Nautical. I plan on throwin' a party. I will bring the captain.

[Dr. Eagle]

Ya. Go find your self a bunch of bones and bury them all over their property. When they start digging and start finding bones, the inspectors will shut them down. Maybe that will buy you some time. They may think its an indian burial ground. (its called salting the property)
Or they'll arrest you for mass murder.... :220v:

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

Then we'll be dooooooommmmmeeedddd!
C-2, we are the only property owner that they are negotiating with. This is a quote from the letter we recieved today:
"Pursuant to County policy, we have contracted with a County approved and cerified appraiser to determine both Opinion of Value including any dfamage and or benefits. This appraisal is the basis for eminent domain proceedings by th County of Riverside."
Benefits? What benefits? I guess they will tell us how putting a flood drain and catch basin on our property will benefit us :rolleyes: . BTW, the county has never contacted us regarding this.

[Perfect Mixer]

Ya. Go find your self a bunch of bones and bury them all over their property. When they start digging and start finding bones, the inspectors will shut them down. Maybe that will buy you some time. They may think its an indian burial ground. (its called salting the property)
Sounds like your from my area SJC! They've been fighting for years over that plot off of J serra because of the Indian bones

[moneypit]

No.. before I became a Sports Chiro, I was in the Local 12 and I ran heavy equipment in the Ventura County/Oxnard area before I finished school. It was common in that area to get shut down because of a dog bone or cow bone. The indians were hot and heavy looking for property. Especially in areas that they had some good ol' family ties. The Inspectors were on the job and they would usualy have someone from a local reservation along with them.

[Racer277]

We had a freeway offramp construction project put on hold for 2 years over some Kit Fox holes.....Just a thought.
I know the home developers around here hire guys to make sure there are never any kit foxes found on their developments, as that would do the same to thier projects, and prolly never get started again.
Anyway, I was just mentioning this. ;)

[C-2]

Then we'll be dooooooommmmmeeedddd!
C-2, we are the only property owner that they are negotiating with. This is a quote from the letter we recieved today:
"Pursuant to County policy, we have contracted with a County approved and cerified appraiser to determine both Opinion of Value including any dfamage and or benefits. This appraisal is the basis for eminent domain proceedings by th County of Riverside."
Benefits? What benefits? I guess they will tell us how putting a flood drain and catch basin on our property will benefit us :rolleyes: . BTW, the county has never contacted us regarding this.
Can you PM the name of the developer? Is that quote missing any words, it refers to "both" but sets forth only one point?
Sounds like they are using clever wording more than anything.
Before any property can be taken by ED they have to conduct public hearings about the proposed development; they have to gove notice of the hearing; at the hearing, property owners can speak (never works, but they have to afford the opportunity); the city/county/redevelopment agency or JPA (joint powers authority, such as MWD or the Alameda Corridor Construction project Authority) then adopts a resolution to acquire via eminent domain laws.
Then they have to clear all the legal hurdles such as CEQA and EIR (Environmental Impact Reports), and hope and pray they don't find any number of protected species on the property.
While I have seen JPA's tender offers to property owners - it's done in a methodical manner. Meaning, you will receive a letter written in legalese advising you of applicable sections of law they are following. Normally the JPA or their representative will alo meet with you face to face to discuss the project. As I said before, cities and counties don't like to tout or flex their eminent domain muscles if it's gonna get them bad press. The last thing they want is another publicized eminent domain battle. They prefer to keep them quiet.
County counsel only represents the interest of the citizens as a whole (the county), so I'm not sure they would be interested in your letter. Again, I sure would like to see a copy, so please don't take use my information as the gospel, hard to say with so little information at hand.

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I hope to get in touch with someone at the County Flood Control tomorrow morning and I'll let you know the results.

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

I talked to the guy from the county who said he knew nothing about an eminent domain issue on my property, but gave me the # of someone else, who I will call tomorrow. He also said that developers don't do this for the county. If the county was proceeding in this manner, I would have been notified. Whew! Big bully developers. I'm not letting my guard down, though. Taking the day off to try to make some headway with the county. Oh, we also wrote a letter to our county supervisor about it.

[C-2]

I talked to the guy from the county who said he knew nothing about an eminent domain issue on my property, but gave me the # of someone else, who I will call tomorrow. He also said that developers don't do this for the county. If the county was proceeding in this manner, I would have been notified. Whew! Big bully developers. I'm not letting my guard down, though. Taking the day off to try to make some headway with the county. Oh, we also wrote a letter to our county supervisor about it.
Upon confirming they are full of crap - a newspaper reporter would have a field day with this (you know, a pic of you folks in front of the tree line with the hawk nest in the background - the look of anguish on both your faces)
Eminent domain is a sore subject with many folks, I can't believe they are putting out a letter like that. Nothing like beating the hornets nest!
Take it as far as you can with the county.

[mtndewdrops]

I read about a ranch in Murietta that Riverside County wants to take by eminent domain to expand the water treatment plant, is this the same case?
I think your best bet is to get another appraisal.