Tag Archives: Dallas

New TxDOT Plan “CityMAP” Presents New Alternatives to Reduce Congestion

24 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Landowner Rights, Property Rights, Texas Department of Transportation, texas eminent domain, TxDOT

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Landowner's Bill of Rights TX

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) recently announced a new plan called CityMAP which outlines the department’s initiatives to address Dallas’ current and future transportation issues. CityMAP, short for Dallas City Master Assessment Plan, constitutes a change in direction for TxDOT, which has a long tradition of attempting to resolve congestion issues by funding road-expansion projects. After years of mixed results, the department has decided a change in methodology was required.

A major finding emphasized by the report was the fact that many Dallas highways currently function as physical barriers that isolate neighborhoods, making them nearly inaccessible, and severely limiting economic opportunities. The report suggested that removing highways or highway sections, or applying modifications such as lowering highway might help improve access, which could in turn spur economic development.

The study projects that at its current growth rate, the number of drivers will surpass the capacity of the highway system by 2040, despite a number of active highway-expansion projects. Such research, combined with a new focus on urban development, has led to a shift from highway traffic, to city, or urban related traffic. The thought is that making the city more suitable for cyclists or pedestrians would cause citizens to walk or bike with greater frequency, which would decrease the overall number of cars on the road and improve traffic efficiency.

But how will complete abandonment of these highways impact the landowners who lost their property to the original highway construction? Subchapter E of the Texas Property Code may have the solution.

To view the Texas Landowner’s Bill of Rights, click here.

It Will Take More Than $75 Million to Build High-Speed Rail without Power of Eminent Domain

31 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Dallas, High-Speed Rail, Houston, Politics, Property Rights, texas condemnation, texas condemnation lawyer, texas eminent domain, Texas Eminent Domain Lawyer

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Despite its recent funds, the company behind the contentious high-speed passenger rail line between Houston and Dallas may not succeed without the use of eminent domain – a power reserved for takings that serve the public interest.

Texas Central, the company working on developing a high-speed passenger rail line between Houston and Dallas, announced the procurement of $75 million in funding for the project and the hiring of a new CEO last week. This funding will certainly help Texas Central take the next steps needed to develop the rail line, but the company’s efforts may be in vain if it cannot use eminent domain to secure the land needed for the project. Some have even said that the line cannot succeed without eminent domain.

The company recently avoided roadblocks set in place by Texas legislatures, some of whom aimed to prevent the company from using eminent domain for the high-speed rail (read our blogs about Senate Bill 1601 here and here). Texas Central has consistently advertised that it can provide better deals for landowners than a governmental agency could and that the rail uses a fraction of the fuel used by commercial aircrafts, but the thought of a privately-owned company invoking the power of eminent domain for a potentially profitable venture has galvanized many Texans against the rail. Many have joined the efforts of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, a group organized around public opposition to the rail.

“Our aim is to protect private property rights, maintain efficient modes of transportation, and prevent the wasteful use of taxpayer dollars or public subsidies for high-speed rail transportation,” the group stated in its mission statement (Click here to visit the group’s website).

Texas Central’s newly-appointed CEO Tim Keith, a Dallas resident who has nearly 25 years of experience in large-scale real estate and infrastructure project development, recognizes this local opposition to the company’s project.

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Tim Keith

“When it impacts communities and people’s land, it’s very personal,” Keith said to the Dallas Morning News, adding that he plans to better communicate the potential benefits of the project to the public.

Texas Central has submitted its rail line to the Federal Railroad Administration and is awaiting the results of an environmental impact review of the project.

Co-authored by Justin Hodge and Ayla Syed.

If you have any questions about this blog, please feel free to contact Justin Hodge at jhodge@jmehlaw.com

High-Speed Train Between Houston and Dallas May Not Come So Fast

11 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by in Dallas, Houston, Politics, Property Rights, texas condemnation, texas condemnation lawyer, texas eminent domain

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The anticipated high-speed passenger rail line that would travel between Houston and Dallas may not come to fruition if the Texas Senate passes a bill proposed to limit the eminent-domain powers of companies that own such lines.

The proposed bill, initiated by Senator Lois Kolkhorst, R – Brenham, defines a high-speed rails as an “intercity passenger rail service that is reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles per hour” and excludes companies that own such rail systems from exercising the power of eminent domain for those projects. The Texas Senate Transportation Committee voted Senate Bill 1601 out of committee on April 8, according to The Texas Tribune.

Texas Central High-Speed Railway, the private company developing the $12 billion train line, has maintained that it has private funding for the entirety of the project and would be able to compensate landowners for the property needed to complete the project more than the government typically can during condemnation.

“We have the ability to pay more because it’s not taxpayer dollars,” Texas Central President Robert Eckels said. “We, in fact, can pay more as a private company and expect that we will be paying more.”

Proponents of the proposed bill argue that the private company should not have the authority to use eminent domain for its own profits.

“Eminent domain is probably the most horrific power that the government has, and to dole that out to individual companies that can misuse that or use it for projects that result in profits, we have to be very careful about doing that,” said Senator Bob Hall, R – Edgewood.

Representatives of Texas Central, however, feel that the company is being singled out as hundreds of private firms are currently authorized to use eminent domain in Texas, according to the Texas Tribune.

“All that we ask is that this train be treated like any other private train in Texas,” said Richard Lawless, Texas Central chairman and CEO. “It does not seem fair to us that this train should be prohibited in Texas just because it goes faster than other trains.”

While the state government may not authorize the use of eminent domain to develop this project, Texas Central has proposed its route to the Federal Railroad Administration.

“Quite honestly, I’d rather do this as a Texas project,” Eckels said.

The train is expected to travel to Dallas from Houston in less than 90 minutes, making one stop in College Station. The company hopes to complete the project by 2021, but a few legislative road blocks may slow its progress.

Read the proposed SB 1601 here.

Co-authored by Justin Hodge and Ayla Syed.

If you have any questions about this article, please feel free to contact Justin Hodge at jhodge@jmehlaw.com

Why is this man smiling again? Perot family lands a sweetheart deal from TxDOT

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in texas condemnation, texas eminent domain, TxDOT

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Texas Department of Transportation (“TxDOT”) officials said right-of-way acquisitions for its Loop 9 Southeast project in Dallas would not begin for another year, but one prominent developing company sold its property for a handsome cost to TxDOT while others in its position have been left in limbo.

Bill Mote, a landowner in the area who has not yet received an offer for his property, reported to the Dallas Morning News that he has not been able to build on his land or sell it for eight years now because of TxDOT’s interest in the area. The landowner, also a commercial real estate owner, found a state land sale document for a deal in 2010 between TxDOT and Ross Perot Jr.’s firm, Hillwood Development Company.

Hillwood received $4.4 million for 34 acres of land in the sale that took place five years before TxDOT stated it would begin right-of-way purchases. This discrepancy raised a few eyebrows among landowners like Mote, especially considering the development firm’s long-term relationship with TxDOT and that this was the only such sale for this project.

This sale was also unique in that it is one of the few open options contracts offered by TxDOT that guarantees the landowner half of the agreed price regardless of whether the project moves forward. The other half will be paid later if the landowner agrees to stop development, the Dallas Morning News reported on Feb. 16th.

TxDOT and Hillwood officials both stated that the land owned by the firm was in a known key area for the highway expansion project and that stopping development by Perot Jr.’s company helped save TxDOT money from having to purchase the land from future homeowners in the subdivision. While this deal may seem to make sense, it still offers Hillwood an unfair advantage not extended to others in the area.

Mote and other landowners like him who may not have the luxury of a cordial and long-term relationship with TxDOT deserve the same treatment as Hillwood, and this situation, brought to light by Watchdog, shows the depth of discretion allowed by eminent-domain laws in Texas. Landowners must protect their rights in condemnation, but TxDOT also has the responsibility of treating each property owner with the respect it gives to high-profile landowners.

Coauthored by Justin Hodge and Ayla Syed.