Yearly Archives: 2008

CLEARVILLE, PA — The Altoona Mirror, posted an article August 1 detailing a plight of local landowners against a gas storage company from Texas, Spectra Energy. In a written plea, the landowners appealed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ask Spectra to hold off on taking their properties by eminent domain. The letter also requested FERC to provide the owners with any information that might be helpful to them in negotiating with Spectra. Spectra has already begun work on its proposed natural gas storage and pipeline project after receiving FERC approval last month.

Since 2000, Nashville’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency has unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate the purchase of property owned by Joy Ford at 23 Music Circle East, Nashville. Because Ford has refused to sell to MDHA, the Authority has indicated that it will use eminent domain to seize her property. However, Ford has gained a new ally in the National Federation of Independent Businesses. NFIB announced last week that it will defend Ford “every step of the way” against MDHA.

Tulsa World staff writer P.J. Lassek writes today about Mayor Kathy Taylor’s proposed $60 million baseball stadium and mixed use project for the historic Greenwood District. Although the city, as the Tulsa Development Authority, already owns the land where the stadium would be built, it does not own the surrounding real estate, which would be desirable if a larger mixed-use facility was designed for the site. Mr. Lassek writes in his article that backers of Mayor Taylor’s project have indicated that it is “vital to have the larger footprint to create a successful project and spur further economic development.”

JACKSONVILLE, FL, Jul 29, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — After almost two years in litigation, the Board of the Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) has decided to abandon the eminent domain taking of Keystone Coal Company’s 70-acre property on the St. Johns River.

A St. Louis jury recently awarded property owner Bill Simon of Alton, Illinois, $2,871,200 for the 2 acres of land he owned just north of the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis. Simon purchased the property in 1999 for $523,000 as an investment. Attorney Paul Henry explained “He bought it because the area had potential.”

With this our first blog post, we would like to explain our goals as an organization and what we intend to discuss in this blog. Owners’ Counsel of America (OCA) is an organization which has sought to bring together the most experienced eminent domain attorneys in the country as a resource to each other in the defense of private property ownership. OCA members stand at the forefront of property rights issues, defending our constitutional guarantee to own and enjoy real property.