Guide to Florida Eminent Domain Law

Florida Eminent Domain Blog | Gregory W. Stoner

The Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm, PA

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Self-Defeating Nature of Eminent Domain

When a city or town announces a plan for redevelopment of an area, the goal is usually to increase economic activity in an area that is either stagnant or "blighted." However, the effect is often the opposite. Once a city announces a plan, people become reluctant to invest in improvements when they are unlikely to receive full compensation for that investment in the event the city actually follows through with an eminent domain taking.

And sometimes it can take years for a condemning authority to make up its mind. Consider the plan by Fresno, California, to build a mixed-use development around its Multipurpose Stadium, a concert venue and home of its AAA baseball team. The project was approved in July 2004, two years after the stadium opened, but the city has still not decided whether to utilize eminent domain to take land for the project. The proposed developer, Forest City Enterprises, is still conducting its site analysis, and has at least one more year to go to complete the process. Forest City has developed numerous commercial, residential, and mixed-use properties from coast to coast, including the Suncoast Lakes development in Pasco County, Florida; redevelopment of the former Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado, and University Park at MIT, and has a reputation of being unfriendly to small businesses. The threat of a Forest City redevelopment is keeping locals from investing in the South Stadium area.

Another example is the Murdock Village redevelopment, which is stalled because the city exercised its eminent domain power before finding a developer, and now is struggling to conclude on its plan.

In these circumstances, one wonders whether native redevelopment might not be more effective in providing the desired economic stimulus, rather than utilizing eminent domain in the service of huge developers.

If your property is threatened as part of an urban redevelopment plan, contact an experienced eminent domain attorney the Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm today for a free initial consultation.

posted by Patti at 12:03 PM 0 comments

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Keystone Coal Loses Fight to Block Eminent Doman, Seeks Full Compensation

The Jacksonville Port Authority has the authority to take land owned by Keystone Coal, a judge decided in late 2006. Now the only question is what, exactly, represents full compensation for the plot of land. The 70 acres of land owned by the coal company will be used as part of the development of a 100-acre port, although the exact plan for the port is still undecided.

One plan for the port was to lease the land to Drummond Coal Company, a rival of Keystone, for the purpose of developing a terminal for handling coal and other bulk cargoes. Keystone argued that an eminent domain taking of the land should be blocked because its own plans were at least as economically beneficial as the plan of leasing the land to Drummond. However, an alternate plan for the land was the development of a containerized cargo terminal to be built and administered by Korea-based Hanjin Shipping Company, with the intent of handling cargo originating from Asia. If this plan were followed, it would be the second such port to be built in Jacksonville in the near future, following a 158-acre facility at Dames Point to be built and administered by Japanese carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Limited.

The revelation of other possible uses caused the judge to rule that the eminent domain taking was indeed considered for a valid public use, forcing Keystone to accept the taking and consider only the compensation phase of the trial. Although a judge has ruled in pretrial motions to limit the scope of evidence that Keystone could put before the jury, Keystone hopes to maximize its compensation by comparing its land to that of Zion Jacksonville Limited, which owns the land on Dames Point, for which the Port Authority has offered $40 million, but Zion Jacksonville has asked $70 million.

The valuation trial for the Keystone land is slated for April 21, 2008, after being delayed from May 2007.

If your business is being threatened by eminent domain, there are a number of tactics you can use to either try to stop the taking or to maximize your compensation. To find the best possible strategies, you need an experienced eminent domain lawyer. Please contact the Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm today for a free initial consultation.

posted by Dan Goldstein at 5:40 AM 0 comments