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Archive | 2022

December 13, 2022

Food Truck Regulations Bring Property-Rights Claim

Jacksonville, North Carolina adopted several food truck regulations that brought many legal challenges.  One of those regulations was to ban food trucks on any property that sits within 250 feet of property with a brick-and-mortar restaurant or residential housing.  There is another regulation which bans food trucks from operating within 250 feet of each other. Within Jacksonville’s city limits open to food trucks, potential operators face other barriers. Another challenged regulation involves advertising.  Food trucks are limited to one sign no taller or wider than five feet.  The sign can… read more

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Posted in Food Truck, Inverse Condemnation, Property Rights, Regulatory Taking
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December 8, 2022

Time to Correct Racial Bias in Residential Valuation. Here is The Way to Start.

My December 27, 2022 article for the New York Law Journal discusses the widespread racial bias found in residential appraisals.  Racial bias in home valuation operates as an institutionalized theft of value from the Black community.  Most Americans measure their wealth by calculating their net worth.  The largest component of personal wealth is the ownership of one’s home.  If a racial component is not given a fair valuation of their property, they lose the opportunity to increase their personal wealth, or at least have a fair accounting of same. The… read more

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Posted in Appraisers, Racial Bias, Valuation
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November 17, 2022

What Does Government Do If It Doesn’t Like the Legal Use of a Property? Why It Condemns the Property!

I know, I know, there is supposed to be a public use for the parcel to be acquired.  But, don’t worry, we can find a public purpose later. NY Waterway is an essential ferry operation running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley.  It has 32 vessels with an average ridership of 18,000 a day.  The ferry company purchased the Union Dry Dock to create a ferry home port for maintenance and fueling.  The City of Hoboken wants the… read more

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Posted in Condemnation of NY Waterways, Hoboken, Public Use
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November 3, 2022

Elon Musk Must Be Nice on Twitter, Or Maybe?

Elon Musk, who recently completed a $44 billion takeover of Twitter, has said, according to the Wall Street Journal, that he would welcome back people who were removed from the platform.  Among those he would welcome back is former President Donald Trump. Trump was booted after his comments to the January 6th riot. Twitter, Musk has said, must be “warm and welcoming to all.” Musk seems to violate his own pledge that the site would not become a “hellscape” under his ownership.  Three days after taking ownership, Musk tweeted that… read more

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Posted in Condemnation of Going Concern, Public Forum, Twitter
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October 18, 2022

Supreme Court Weighs Wetlands Protection.

On October 3, 2022, the Supreme Court heard argument in Sackett v U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___ U.S. ___ (No. 21-454).  The Sacketts bought their land in 2004 in a subdivision near Priest Lake, Idaho.  They obtained the necessary permits to build a modest three-bedroom family home.  In 2007 they began construction only to have EPA officials demand they stop, alleging that their land was protected wetlands under federal jurisdiction.  The EPA’s compliance order claimed the construction violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) because their property was a federally regulated… read more

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Posted in Clean Water Act, Navigable Waters, Wetlands
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