Archive | 2021

An 800-Megawatt Surprise – Destroying a Community

One of the nice things about writing a blog is that your readers send you ideas for your next article.  This one is a doozey. There is an 800-megawatt hydroelectric project for New York which is proposed by Premium Energy Holdings of California.  The proposal calls for the Ashokan Reservoir water and its existing dam to be used as a lower reservoir in a pumped storage power plant facility. The project’s preliminary permit application is before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The reservoir proposal has been called “devastating.”  Local officials,… read more

Posted in Condemnation, FERC, Hydroelectric Power Plant, Reservoir
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Valuing Real Estate During a Pandemic

The Granular Approach Covid-19 has significantly impacted real estate valuations.  For example, under the comparable sales approach to valuation, valuators look at sales prices of similar properties in recent transactions, making adjustments for differences between those properties and the subject property.  As stated by Lisa Loychik of Cohen & Co. in a paper dated August 20, 2020, “It’s debatable whether pre-Covid-19 sales can be considered comparable with post-pandemic sales, though.  Valuators are looking beyond comparable sales and considering individual circumstances on a more granular level.  This approach acknowledges that generalities… read more

Posted in Comparable Sales, Covid-19, Valuation
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Wind Power Transmission Lines: Up in The Air

Stopping the construction of wind generated energy is a growing trend in America. The Missouri legislature is considering a law that would outlaw utility companies taking land through eminent domain.  The Missouri House passed a bill 123-33 last week that would eliminate condemnation for a utility line.  The bill was specifically designed to block a project, “The Grain Belt Express.”  The project is a private venture that would take wind generated energy from Kansas and transmit it across Missouri.  The project will transport up to 4,000 megawatts of energy from… read more

Posted in Eminent Domain, Utilities, Wind Generated Energy
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The “Big Beautiful Wall” and Its Ugly Damages

President Biden ordered a freeze on further wall construction and acquisitions until his administration can sort things out.  The Trump administration rushed through its fence wall building program by utilizing a section of the Real ID Act of 2005 that empowers the head of the Department of Homeland Security “to waive legal requirements” the Secretary “determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads” at the border.  That allowed the former administration to suspend 84 separate laws and regulations and proceed without considering the damage it was causing… read more

Posted in Border Wall, Consequential Damages, Direct Damages, Partial Takings
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Condemning a Golf Club? Not So Fast – It’s Worth More Than You Think.

When a town condemns a country club to continue its use as a golf course, it may have bitten off more than the taxpayers can chew. The law in New York and elsewhere in our country is that the Constitution requires the payment of just compensation, It is the general rule that “just compensation” is the fair market value of the property at the date of the taking, Matter of Board of Water Supply of City of New York, 277 NY 452 (1938); County of Erie v Fridenberg, 221 NY… read more

Posted in Country Club, Golf Course, Highest and Best Use
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