"Killeen-based firm claimed it could protect property owners from having their land seized for the Trans-Texas Corridor."
State sues Killeen firm offering protection from eminent domain
9/14/06
Associated Press
Copyright 2006
AUSTIN - The Texas Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a Killeen-based firm from claiming it can protect property owners from having their land seized for the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The business, You Can't Take It, planned to charge customers to develop commercial projects on their land that would increase property values, said Hale Stewart, a Houston lawyer representing the business.
The property owner could then fight eminent domain by claiming that the commercial use of the land would create more tax revenue than if the land was seized for public use. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made tax revenue from a new project a factor in whether it was viable to condemn land for eminent domain, Stewart said.
The business offered its services for $600 to start followed by $100 monthly payments, according to the lawsuit filed Monday.
"Nothing the group is doing is legal," said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, which seeks both temporary and permanent injunctions against the business.
Stewart said You Can't Take It wants to fight the lawsuit but can't afford to do so.
Lou Ann Fuller, an owner of the business, said the business and its Web site have been shut down. The business hasn't taken any money from customers or held any meetings with potential customers, she said.
"We don't have the money to fight back," she said.
The state is in the early stages of the Trans Texas Corridor highway system that Gov. Rick Perry first proposed in 2002. The overall plan calls for 4,000-plus miles of tollways and railways across the state with the first stretch running roughly parallel to Interstate 35.
The plan has sparked fear among some rural landowners who are concerned they'll be forced to sell their land to the state to make way for the project.
"What we had planned to do was go in there and plan development projects ahead of the Trans-Texas Corridor," said Douglas Lee Thayer, the company's chief executive officer.
According to the lawsuit, the business claimed the state would offer property owners 75 percent of the appraised value of their land during eminent domain proceedings.
The attorney general's office said the commercial lease agreement the business was proposing can't be done.
"They have no standing whatsoever to insert themselves into such legal proceedings, and homeowners, who are already protected by the Constitution, will find they have paid a lot of money for a service that is null and void," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement.
Chris Bishop, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said right-of-way acquisition for the corridor project is still several years away. He said law requires that offers for property are based on 100 percent of its appraised value.
---
Information from:
Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
Killeen Daily Herald, http://www.kdhnews.com
© 2006 The Associated Press: www.ap.org
9/14/06
Associated Press
Copyright 2006
AUSTIN - The Texas Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a Killeen-based firm from claiming it can protect property owners from having their land seized for the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The business, You Can't Take It, planned to charge customers to develop commercial projects on their land that would increase property values, said Hale Stewart, a Houston lawyer representing the business.
The property owner could then fight eminent domain by claiming that the commercial use of the land would create more tax revenue than if the land was seized for public use. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made tax revenue from a new project a factor in whether it was viable to condemn land for eminent domain, Stewart said.
The business offered its services for $600 to start followed by $100 monthly payments, according to the lawsuit filed Monday.
"Nothing the group is doing is legal," said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, which seeks both temporary and permanent injunctions against the business.
Stewart said You Can't Take It wants to fight the lawsuit but can't afford to do so.
Lou Ann Fuller, an owner of the business, said the business and its Web site have been shut down. The business hasn't taken any money from customers or held any meetings with potential customers, she said.
"We don't have the money to fight back," she said.
The state is in the early stages of the Trans Texas Corridor highway system that Gov. Rick Perry first proposed in 2002. The overall plan calls for 4,000-plus miles of tollways and railways across the state with the first stretch running roughly parallel to Interstate 35.
The plan has sparked fear among some rural landowners who are concerned they'll be forced to sell their land to the state to make way for the project.
"What we had planned to do was go in there and plan development projects ahead of the Trans-Texas Corridor," said Douglas Lee Thayer, the company's chief executive officer.
According to the lawsuit, the business claimed the state would offer property owners 75 percent of the appraised value of their land during eminent domain proceedings.
The attorney general's office said the commercial lease agreement the business was proposing can't be done.
"They have no standing whatsoever to insert themselves into such legal proceedings, and homeowners, who are already protected by the Constitution, will find they have paid a lot of money for a service that is null and void," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement.
Chris Bishop, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said right-of-way acquisition for the corridor project is still several years away. He said law requires that offers for property are based on 100 percent of its appraised value.
---
Information from:
Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
Killeen Daily Herald, http://www.kdhnews.com
© 2006 The Associated Press:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, September 14, 2006
<< Home