Florida Eminent Domain Blog

Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County is a community of contrasts. A thin strip of land running from the Lake Worth Lagoon to the interior of the Florida Peninsula, the city has a wide distribution of socioeconomic classes, from the rich residents of Singer Island to the relatively impoverished people sandwiched in the urban corridor between Broadway and I-95. Because of this economic disparity, Riviera Beach has had a revenue problem for many years, with the 12.5 % of the population on Singer Island representing almost 50 % of the tax base for the community. So, when taxes have to be raised, they disproportionately affect these upper-class residents, who feel they are being swamped with taxes for which they receive little or no services. To correct this problem, Riviera Beach sought to essentially double its upper-class population.

Utilizing eminent domain, the city hoped to take the mainland coast across from Singer Island and give it to a private developer who would make it into an "International Harbor Village," with exculsive shops, restaurants, and residencies. Currently, the homes are largely middle-class beachfront property, some of the rare beachfront property in Florida affordable to people making a moderate income, and many of them did not want to give up their homes. Numerous cases were filed, not only by residents, but by activist groups on the behalf of residents, but the city stood firm on its commitment to take the land.

Then the state enacted its post-Kelo revision of eminent domain laws to state that eminent domain could not normally be used to transfer land from one private owner to another, but must, instead, be used for a legitimate public purpose. At first, Riviera Beach considered trying to circumvent the law, then, on November 17, 2006, the city backed down.

If you are facing eminent domain, and suspect your local government is attempting to use its power to promote other private interests, you may be able to stop the government from taking your land. Contact the experienced eminent domain attorneys at the Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm for a free evaluation of your case.

In 2002, the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization whose stated purpose is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land for the creation and sustenance of thriving communities, recommended that the Charlotte County, Florida community seek to establish a type of urban center by unplatting small lots into a single large parcel that could support a mixed-use development that might provide stimulus for the stagnant economy of the county.

The county targeted a stagnant development with 2913 empty lots out of 3000, and utilized eminent domain to get land from the last 122 unwilling owners, creating a 1,132-acre block of land which it sought to develop as a single piece. However, a number of developers have dropped out from the project, leaving the area vacant. As the Florida market has followed the nationwide trend of stagnation and decline in the housing market, the development plan's mandate that at least 35 percent of the parcel be residential makes it undesirable to developers, so Murdock village is stuck with $93 million in debt, and no future development in sight.

The only offer still out on the line involves breaking the parcel back up to sell it to a number of smaller developers in "bite size" pieces. However, many in the county question whether this will undermine the new urbanism philosophy and create just another piece of unidentifiable suburban sprawl with no real future.

If your property is being sought for use in redevelopment, one avenue to prevent the taking might be to point out the possible failure of the redevelopment plan. The experienced eminent domain lawyers at the Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm know many different tactics for succeeding in your case. Please contact us today for a free initial consultation.

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.

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.

In 2005, the Supreme Court made what many consider to be an outrageous decision in the case of Kelo v. City of New London. The Court decided that local governments could use eminent domain to transfer private property from one owner to another if this transfer was intended to create economic growth. The Court concluded that this constituted “public use” because the community benefited from the effects of economic growth.

However, many people saw this as an authorization of stealing land from the poor to give it to the rich, and, in response, many states, including Florida, passed laws to explicitly forbid this use of eminent domain. Now, if a municipality wants to take your land, it must prove that the land will be used for a legitimate public use, not just some use which may have a chance of providing trickle-down public good. In order for your land to be passed on to another private owner, both houses of the Florida Legislature must pass a three-fifths majority vote!

So if your land is going to be taken and given to another private owner, you can prevent it from being taken. To learn how you can protect your land from eminent domain, contact Greg Stoner at the Florida Eminent Domain Law Firm today for an initial consultation.

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