Here’s what we are reading today, eminent domain with a slightly offbeat theme:
Hawaii Business magazine has a new report about Honolulu rail. The headline asks, “How Much Will It Cost Us In The End?”
There are questions of how much over original projections the rail project currently is. Or whether it is really over budget at all. Anywhere from zero (according to HART), to $1
Here’s a case in which the court ruled there wasn’t a taking, but it could be argued that the property owners won. How so? Because this case pitted the property rights of railroads against the property rights of the owners over whose land the rail lines run.
The U.S. Court of Appeals asked the Louisiana Supreme
Compare these two reports, filed just over a month apart, about California’s “high speed” rail system, now underway in the Central Valley:
The short answer: taxes.
[Update #1: a report from last night’s community meeting, “Railing Against Honolulu’s $6 Billion Rail Project” (“Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and his top transit official took their licks from a decidedly anti-rail crowd during a boisterous town hall meeting at Washington Middle School on Wednesday.”
Update #2: “
The cover story in Pacific Business News‘ recent edition, “Honolulu rail transit’s eminent domain” is worth reading. Most importantly, the PBN staff created maps which show how much property is targeted for acquisition, and where it is located, precisely. Yes, the full story is behind a partial paywall, but as we said
We can’t reproduce the entire interview, and the link to the online version is behind a partial paywall, but here are the highlights of a recent interview, where A. Kam Napier, the Editor-in- Chief of Pacific Business News, came by and chatted with us about eminent domain, property rights, and the Honolulu rail
If you didn’t have a chance to attend last week’s community meeting on the Honolulu rail project and property rights at Farrington High School, we’ve posted the audio clips, which include the big picture, the current status, and a series of frequently asked questions.
As reported yesterday by Pacific Business News (“HART acquired 34 properties for $70M along Honolulu rail transit route, new report says“), “[t]he Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has acquired 34 properties totaling about $70.2 million thus far along the 20-mile rail transit route, including the recent purchase of a former sports bar property
The State of New York wants to build the Bronx River Greenway, a “23-mile-long ribbon of green with a multi-use path that will extend along the full length of the river in Westchester County and the Bronx.” Who could argue with that?
Amtrak, that’s who. After failing to acquire 6 parcels along the river