Re: [at-l] Graymoor---

[kahley7 <kahley7@ptd.net>]

Not drifted at all Paddler.....What a screwing you had!!

This to me is the core of the ED procedure.  You
were willing to take the risk of the ebb and flow 
of real estate property values.  But how could
you even dream of the capricious nature of government?

First it's wetlands, then it's not.
It's develop-able, then it isn't, then it is.

The idea that the government can, with a stroke
of a REGULATORY pen decrease the value of a citizen's
property by 10 times and then back him into a corner so that
he has no recourse but to sell at that deflated cost is
the fly in the ointement of ED.  The greater good does
exist...no highway or Trail could even be built without it.
But such tactics are not acceptable.

Isn't this the case at Saddleback?  Isn't the government
threatening to declare the area they want as undevelop-able
so they can name their own price?  Am I remembering it wrong?

How can "fair" market value have a real meaning if the government, 
which will be paying a price based on same, has the power to change
that value?







Tim Hewitt wrote:
> 
> on 8/17/00 9:52 AM, James P. Lynch, III at jplynch@crosslink.net wrote:
> 
> > When property is "taken" by eminent domain it *must* be paid for at the
> > appraised market value.  This is part of the law.  You're right, it
> > doesn't matter what you paid (you may have paid more and you may have
> > paid less).  It also does not matter what some expected future value is;
> > no one has a crystal ball.  Who knows what the future value of anything
> > is?  Land in particular is very prone to big swings in value, up and
> > down.
> 
> Sorry, but I believe that this is the largest single problem with the law.
> When I purchased the property, the independent appraised market value was
> $1600/acre. It was zoned for residential development. The market value was
> set based on comparable properties surrounding mine. Development in the area
> was starting with the infrastructure being put in place for services when I
> purchased.
> 
> When the state came in and effecively stole my property, they first -
> through the state DEP - reclassified the property as wetlands that was not
> developable. Less than 10 acres of the land was pond, and the surrounding
> land was not wet, with a very well defined stream running in and out of the
> property. High gravel bluffs (most of Western Washington has a gravel base)
> surrounded the streambed. Drainage was not an issue. There was no flood
> plain. The bulk of the property was second growth douglas fir. The state
> then appraised the property themselves - no indepented appraisals allowed -
> at $385/acre. I had two options; sell at the price they offered or have my
> property condemmed and simply taken for no compenstation. I sued. I lost. I
> sold at $385/acre and lost half that in legal fees. I was not able to log
> the property or in any other way disturb the property before selling. I was
> screwed up one side and down the other.
> 
> This all happened inside of 12 months and in assiciation with a change in
> the Governership of the state. The new administration was not in favor of
> development in this part of the county - it had the potential of becoming a
> bedroom community to Redmond, and the road infrastructure was not adaquate
> to serve commuter traffic for 10,000 Microsoft employees...
> 
> By the way, the state has now sold part of this property themselves (25+
> acres), to a private developer for $30000/acre (13 years later), and I'm
> researching my legal rights for recompense. He haas built high-density
> housing; condominium-like houses with no yards and some common areas. Yes
> it's a bedroom community now. The DEP removed wetland protection status from
> those 25+ acres.
> 
> Were my property rights violated? You decide.
> 
> I'm sorry this has drifted so far from being trail related.
> 
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