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Home / WA: GOP AG Wants you to Know Your Land RightsWA: GOP AG Wants you to Know Your Land Rights
Last Updated on Monday, 3 March 2008 10:00 Written by rslcpol Monday, 3 March 2008 10:00
Eminent domain, the government’s power to take private property for a “public use,” is a necessary authority. It’s also a controversial authority, due largely to its adversarial nature. Governments exercise eminent domain only when an agreement cannot be reached with the property owner.
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has proposed legislation this year aimed at educating private property owners as to what the government can and cannot do in these condemnation proceedings.
McKenna’s proposal, House Bill 2920, has been dubbed an eminent domain “bill of rights.” That may be a misnomer. The legislation would not empower property owners with new rights against the government’s exercise of eminent domain. But would arm them the next best thing – knowledge.
While the info for a beginning search would be nice, the problem remains with Wa. state and local officials treating homeowner and property owners land as convienent pawn pieces- sacrificed at their digression and generally without enough warning to the owner until its really too late.
While Rob has improved the notification process in some ways, more needs to be done and legislation needs to be enacted to prevent continual land grabs.
One suggestion is when land is purchased ( often unwillingly) for supposed flood mitigation/ conservation then either there needs to be a moritorium on any additional sales/zoning changes or building by the counties or state for at least 50 years. Also, if the land is then sold because its now attractive for building, the counties or state has to get fair market price and return any profit over the origional purchase ( grab) price to the previous property owner or their heirs.
That might start puttng a kabosh on some of the government ” grabs” around here.