Eminent Domain Protection Available In Riverside:

RIVERSIDE - The Riverside City Council on Tuesday enacted a law severely limiting when the city Redevelopment Agency can use eminent domain to buy owner-occupied single-family homes.

Public agencies use eminent domain to acquire private property for public uses such as roads, parks and libraries.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said the government also could use it to acquire land for developers whose projects would create jobs and boost tax revenues.

Ten residents spoke out Tuesday."We need to know that we have a sense of permanence in our area," University neighborhood homeowner Margaret Johnson said.

The new law prohibits the agency from buying any owner-occupied single-family residence through eminent domain unless the house is encumbered with a lien stemming from a code violation, has been boarded up for more than a year or has become a public nuisance.

In the portions of La Sierra and Arlanza where the Redevelopment Agency has jurisdiction, a house must be boarded up for three years before the agency can use eminent domain to buy it, under terms of a 2006 legal settlement.

The new law also requires the agency to pay fair market value for any property it buys through eminent domain.The agency has never used eminent domain to buy an owner-occupied single-family house for economic development, city officials said."It's not something we're going to do," Councilman Art Gage said.

Reach Doug Haberman at 951-368-9644 or dhaberman@PE.com

Dear Gramps:

This shows that IF you own property in Riverside you have more rights and security in your ownership than you would if you own property in Grand Terrace. As more of the surrounding areas adopt ownership protection laws Grand Terrace will find fewer and fewer people buying homes and businesses, or even fixing up their properties. Property under the threat of eminent domain taking, or where it is even a possibility will be reduced in its value. anyone buying it will know they may not be true owners of such property particularly in a "Redevelopment Area" or Redevelopment Project.

Isn't it time the Citizens, homeowners, and business owners of Grand Terrace get protection from the Dictates and Whim of the Redevelopment Agency's ability to use Eminent Domain, even the suggestion of the potential of Eminent Domain. Shouldn't the Citizens and Business Owners of Grand Terrace enjoy the same rights to property as people living in the County of San Bernardino, or the City of Riverside?

I say yes. The City Council needs to Write a Change in the City Code so that its citizens and city are elevated to the same status of a citizen who owns land in San Bernardino County, or at least Riverside. Cindy Bidney provided the Council a Measure for ED Limits, the County had a Measure. Isn't it time Council Member Miller's request to put ED on the Agenda for the City Council and Redevelopment Agency? IT is time this important issue be reformed.