Author name: Hansen, Howell & Wilkie, PLLC

It appears that another natural gas pipeline crossing through Virginia – no, not the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, but the Mountain Valley Pipeline – has hit a surprise hurdle.

The North Carolina House recently passed House Bill 3, which proposes amending our State Constitution and changing the language in certain statutes concerning eminent domain. HB3 would amend Article I of the North Carolina constitution to add Section 38, entitled “Eminent Domain”: Private Property shall not be taken by eminent domain except for a public use.  Just compensation

The landscape of eminent domain law in North Carolina saw changes both big and small in 2016.  The NC Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision in the Kirby case, marking a monumental shift towards protecting property owners’ rights.  As a response, the North Carolina legislature tried their best to contain the damage and limit compensation to those affected landowners. 

On Jan. 14th, 2015 State Rep. Chuck McGrady (R-117th Dist.) filed a bill proposing an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution in order to address concerns about the condemnation of private property within the state. House Bill 3 proposes to amend section 19 of the Constitution to explicitly state that (1) eminent domain should be used only to take private property

Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas have selected Dominion to construct their proposed 550-mile long natural gas pipeline.  The so-called “Atlantic Coast Pipeline” will run from West Virginia, through Virginia and North Carolina, and will cost between $4.5 and $5 billion.  In North Carolina, the pipeline will run from Northampton County, then travel southwest through six other counties before ending in Robeson

The US Senate recently passed a House-drafted bill that provides a temporary fix to the federal Highway Trust Fund problems.  The bill moves $11 billion from other sources over to the fund to prevent a 28% reduction in spending during peak construction time.  The fix is far from permanent but will allow the feds to continue to make payments to state

On April 11, 2014, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Beroth Oil Company, et al. v. North Carolina Department of Transportation.  The Court granted discretionary review of the Court of Appeal‘s unanimous decision to deny class certification to the plaintiffs, who are landowners in the path of the Northern Beltway in Winston Salem.  In a 5 to 2 ruling,

Recently, a reporter with the Weekly Standard paid a visit to New London, Connecticut, site of perhaps the most well-known eminent domain controversy in the country.  As you will recall, New London hoped to jump-start economic development in the city and add much-needed jobs.  To realize this goal, in 1998 the city partnered with New London

On March 10, 2014 the U.S. Supreme Court released their decision in the case of Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust, et al. v. United States, holding that when a railroad abandons their right of way under an 1875 law, the property owner holding title to the land within the right of way acquires full rights to the land. For