Liberty
Matters News Service
July 8, 2004
65-10 Rule
King County, Washington government officials are poised to
enact the most restrictive land use regulation in the country, according to a
Fox News report. The proposed law, known as the 65-10 Rule, decrees that
landowners must maintain 65 per cent of their property in a natural state and
the owners will only be allowed to build on 10 per cent of it. County residents
are outraged. "My take is its stealing - out and out stealing," said Marshall
Brenden. "They're taking 65 percent of your land that you fought for years to
pay for, paid mortgages on and now you can't use it." Rush Limbaugh expressed
similar outrage about the King County situation on his July 1 radio talk show.
"… [T]he right to private property is as fundamental to a free people and
free nation and capitalism as is any of the other [rights]. It may rank at the
top, private property." The concept of private property rights appears to be
alien to environmentalists and other supporters of the new rule, however. They
maintain personal property rights do not trump the rights of a larger community
to save the eco-system. "We're trying to keep the rural area a place that isn't
just McMansions and ball courts, but instead has those natural processes," said
Tim Trohimovich of the 1000 Friends of Washington. The plan is strongly
supported by King County Executive Ron Sims who is running for governor. There
were no reports indicating how or if, landowners could use the remaining 25
percent of their property.
Property
Rights Under Assault
Private
Property May Become Preserved
Land Schemes Catch Attention of IRS
The Internal Revenue Service
has announced it is cracking down on individuals and non-profit organizations
that make cozy land deals with one another. The IRS is particularly interested
in gifts of "conservation easements" that provide deed restrictions having
little to do with conservation of resources. "We've uncovered numerous
instances where the tax benefits of preserving open spaces and historic
buildings have been twisted for inappropriate individual benefit," said IRS
Commissioner Mark W. Everson. The IRS crack down comes in the wake of hearings
held by the Senate Finance Committee last year that investigated easement
transactions involving The Nature Conservancy. Chairman of the Committee, Sen.
Charles Grassley (R-IA), welcomed the news. "I'm encouraged that the IRS is
willing to challenge the tax-exempt status of charitable organizations that
engage in shady practices in land donation transactions." Individuals who claim
improper deductions may be penalized and charities may lose their tax-exempt
status. "Taxpayers who want to game the system and the charities that assist
them will be called to account," said Commissioner Everson.
Treasury and IRS Issue Notice Regarding
Improper Deductions for Conservation Easement Donations
IRS Toughens Scrutiny of Land Gifts
The "Bad" Luck of the Draw
The U. S. Forest Service
(USFS) has announced it will hold a drawing to determine which ten cabin owners
out of 106 will be allowed to rebuild following the devastating 2002 Curve and
Williams fire in California that scorched sixty thousand acres and destroyed
110 buildings. Only four cabin owners have been given permission to rebuild
while the rest of the owners are still awaiting word. Forest Service officials
say their newly revised lease program will allow only ten cabins to be built
and those ten will be chosen by a lottery system, a fact that has owners up in
arms. "It doesn't sound fair. If you had a lot you should be able to get a lot
back," said Reiner Kruger, whose cabin burned in San Dimas Canyon. Cabin owners
can't rebuild on their old sites because they are in riparian areas or flood
plains say USFS officials. A similar scene is playing out in New Mexico where a
48,000 acre fire in the Lincoln National Forest destroyed twelve cabins in
Peppin Canyon in May. Cabin owners are furious that the Forest Service did not
make serious attempts to keep the fire from demolishing the cabins that had
been in their families for generations, some dating back to the 1920's. And,
like the folks in California, they fear the Forest Service will not allow them
to rebuild.
Cabin
Owners' Rebuilding Plans Left to a Lottery
Eminent Domain in North Carolina
A group of developers is proposing to build
a retail and apartment complex in downtown Fayetteville, NC. But the way they
are going about the task is cause for concern, according to Alex Lekas writing
in Up & Coming Weekly. Mr. Lekas writes that to make room for the new
development the current occupants of homes and businesses in the area will have
to go. And some of them don't want to go. The City of Fayetteville is
apparently willing to exercise the power of eminent domain to remove the
holdouts, a practice that is becoming more common across the country as
reported during 60 Minutes last Sunday. Mr. Lekas believes that is the wrong
approach. "While eminent domain is based on serving the public good, this
country was founded on the primacy of the individual and private property
rights are the bedrock of that foundation. When that footing is weakened and
government can come in and take what's yours, then property rights don't mean
very much and a large chunk of the type of liberty we believe we have is also
sliced away." For an extensive report on eminent domain abuse, go to
www.castlecoalition.org and read "Public Power, Private Gain" by Dana Berliner.
It cites literally thousands of situations where the power of eminent domain is
being used in every state in America.
Downtown Strategy Is An Eminently Bad Idea
Eminent Domain: Being Abused?