Virginia Property Rights Coalition
Dedicated to Protecting the Rights of Private Ownership
Dedicated to Protecting the Rights of Private Ownership
All rights reserved.
| Top property rights story in Virginia |
| Contact your Senator and Delegate Today! Let them know you expect them to enact legislation that protects your property rights Who is My Legislator? |
| Learn more About Us & Make a Difference |
| Web Master Click here to report issues involving the site |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| ON PROPERTY RIGHTS, VDOT COULD LEARN FROM BP By JOHN TAYLOR |
INCREDIBLE AS it may seem, BP has done at least one thing right in the Gulf of Mexico. By
establishing a victims’ fund of $20-plus billion, BP has acknowledged that its actions as a
company, whether negligent or not, caused a tragic accident and significant financial losses to Gulf
Coast residents and business owners.
Without even waiting for due process to run its course, BP has taken full financial responsibility
for making thousands of damaged property owners whole again.
Darryl Willis, vice president of resources for BP America, even went so far as to promise that BP
will make payments “for as long as it takes” to anyone that has been “hurt, harmed or damaged
by this spill.” That seems only fair.
What a shame that Virginia’s Department of Transportation seems not to feel a similar sense of
responsibility to the property owners whose homes and businesses it destroys through eminent
domain.
Property owners like the Stull family of Alleghany County. Like so many Gulf fishermen and
business owners, the Stulls’ livelihood depended on the operation of their family business, a dairy
farm. Unfortunately for them, VDOT coveted the property on which their dairy farm was located
and used what is known as “quicktake” power to seize their business and raze it, destroying its
value.
Though Virginia’s Constitution promises “just compensation” when the government takes
property, just compensation is never actually paid. This is because under Virginia law, business
losses and other losses are not compensable. Private citizens who stand up to the government are
forced to spend their own money, and years in court, before collecting even a fraction of their
property’s former worth. Just compensation cannot be just when it does not make an owner
whole.
That is exactly what happened to the Stulls. Thanks to VDOT’s action, they had no money to
rebuild or relocate their demolished dairy business and so watched helplessly as former clients
were forced to seek new suppliers, and even the cows themselves had to be auctioned off.
In other words, while BP is voluntarily compensating Gulf residents for tens of billions of dollars
in losses from an accidental oil spill, Virginia citizens, who suffer irreparable financial harm at the
hands of their very own Transportation Department, are not even entitled to just compensation,
despite the voluntary and pre-meditated nature of eminent domain seizures. And President
Obama wonders why Americans have lost faith in government. things could be even worse. In
fact, until very recently, they were. Before H.B. 2954 passed the General Assembly in 2007,
private property in Virginia could be seized by a host of public and private entities for no other
reason than the dubious potential of increased tax revenues or promised economic development.
Today that is no longer the case. However, a simple statute is not enough to keep “public
servants” like VDOT at bay for long.
Every year, lobbyists hired by the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of
Counties and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations flock to Richmond to chip away at
Virginians’ dwindling private property rights. These groups, along with VDOT, are vehemently
opposed to leveling the legal playing field in favor of property owners. Infuriatingly, these
lobbyists are paid to restrict Virginians’ property rights with tax dollars taken directly from the
pockets of the very citizens whose homes and businesses they seek to confiscate.
This predatory behavior on the part of the state must end. The only way to effectively stop
eminent domain abuse is to enshrine the protection of private property in Virginia’s Constitution,
where it belongs.
A rare chance to do just that will come during the next legislative session, in January. If the men
and women elected to represent the interests of Virginia’s citizens are serious about the job they
have been trusted to perform, they will take the opportunity to pass a much-needed constitutional
amendment protecting private property ownership before more lives and jobs are destroyed.
If not, obstructionist politicians in both parties should prepare to find themselves at the receiving
end of a voter backlash in November 2011 — a backlash that will make even Tony Hayward
and BP look popular.
John Taylor is president of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, an education and
research organization based in Gainesville.
establishing a victims’ fund of $20-plus billion, BP has acknowledged that its actions as a
company, whether negligent or not, caused a tragic accident and significant financial losses to Gulf
Coast residents and business owners.
Without even waiting for due process to run its course, BP has taken full financial responsibility
for making thousands of damaged property owners whole again.
Darryl Willis, vice president of resources for BP America, even went so far as to promise that BP
will make payments “for as long as it takes” to anyone that has been “hurt, harmed or damaged
by this spill.” That seems only fair.
What a shame that Virginia’s Department of Transportation seems not to feel a similar sense of
responsibility to the property owners whose homes and businesses it destroys through eminent
domain.
Property owners like the Stull family of Alleghany County. Like so many Gulf fishermen and
business owners, the Stulls’ livelihood depended on the operation of their family business, a dairy
farm. Unfortunately for them, VDOT coveted the property on which their dairy farm was located
and used what is known as “quicktake” power to seize their business and raze it, destroying its
value.
Though Virginia’s Constitution promises “just compensation” when the government takes
property, just compensation is never actually paid. This is because under Virginia law, business
losses and other losses are not compensable. Private citizens who stand up to the government are
forced to spend their own money, and years in court, before collecting even a fraction of their
property’s former worth. Just compensation cannot be just when it does not make an owner
whole.
That is exactly what happened to the Stulls. Thanks to VDOT’s action, they had no money to
rebuild or relocate their demolished dairy business and so watched helplessly as former clients
were forced to seek new suppliers, and even the cows themselves had to be auctioned off.
In other words, while BP is voluntarily compensating Gulf residents for tens of billions of dollars
in losses from an accidental oil spill, Virginia citizens, who suffer irreparable financial harm at the
hands of their very own Transportation Department, are not even entitled to just compensation,
despite the voluntary and pre-meditated nature of eminent domain seizures. And President
Obama wonders why Americans have lost faith in government. things could be even worse. In
fact, until very recently, they were. Before H.B. 2954 passed the General Assembly in 2007,
private property in Virginia could be seized by a host of public and private entities for no other
reason than the dubious potential of increased tax revenues or promised economic development.
Today that is no longer the case. However, a simple statute is not enough to keep “public
servants” like VDOT at bay for long.
Every year, lobbyists hired by the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of
Counties and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations flock to Richmond to chip away at
Virginians’ dwindling private property rights. These groups, along with VDOT, are vehemently
opposed to leveling the legal playing field in favor of property owners. Infuriatingly, these
lobbyists are paid to restrict Virginians’ property rights with tax dollars taken directly from the
pockets of the very citizens whose homes and businesses they seek to confiscate.
This predatory behavior on the part of the state must end. The only way to effectively stop
eminent domain abuse is to enshrine the protection of private property in Virginia’s Constitution,
where it belongs.
A rare chance to do just that will come during the next legislative session, in January. If the men
and women elected to represent the interests of Virginia’s citizens are serious about the job they
have been trusted to perform, they will take the opportunity to pass a much-needed constitutional
amendment protecting private property ownership before more lives and jobs are destroyed.
If not, obstructionist politicians in both parties should prepare to find themselves at the receiving
end of a voter backlash in November 2011 — a backlash that will make even Tony Hayward
and BP look popular.
John Taylor is president of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, an education and
research organization based in Gainesville.
