Court restores local zoning rules for shale gas drillers in Pennsylvania
“An appeals court on Thursday curbed the state’s power over local zoning rules that target the growing gas-drilling industry but upheld parts of Pennsylvania’s revamped oil and gas laws involving notification of spills, eminent domain…
Court Dismisses Challenges To Act 13, Enjoins PUC Review Of Local Ordinances
“Commonwealth Court Thursday dismissed the remaining challenges to the Act 13 drilling law remanded for reconsideration by the PA Supreme Court, but did enjoin the Public Utility Commission from reviewing local ordinances regulating drilling consistent…
What is eminent domain?
“Eminent domain, the government’s power to take private property for public use, is rooted in the Fifth Amendment. Typically, the government has invoked that power for public projects like schools and roads. In 2005, the…
The gas company that says it can take your backyard
“For more than a decade, the country around Ronald and Sallie Cox’s home, 25 miles south of Pittsburgh, has been an unchanging landscape of rolling green foothills. Sitting atop a modest promontory, their property is…
“De facto” land taking could cost Phila. dearly later
“For developer Greg Ventresca, eight acres of green, undeveloped land in Philadelphia’s Roxborough neighborhood seemed like the perfect place for 48 new houses. The spot was zoned residential. It already had water and sewer lines….
A Pipeline Threatens Our Family Land
“This spring a man with a clipboard knocked on Malinda’s door. He wanted permission to survey her property for a natural gas pipeline. My sister asked what would happen if she didn’t sign. Williams Partners,…
Township sued over Costco, Whole Foods shopping center tax plan
“The East Penn school directors approved the TIF plan, which will be overseen by the Lehigh County Industrial Development Authority, in May 2013 and reaffirmed that decision in April. Lehigh County commissioners rejected the plan…
North York moves ahead with eminent domain proceedings
“North York Borough Council decided Tuesday to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to acquire a property that houses the borough’s sewer pump station. Council voted 6-0 to approve the ordinance regarding the property at…
Allentown business owner claims city lowballed her in eminent domain case because she’s a woman
“The president of a Lehigh County company claims Allentown has not given her fair market value for a number of city properties slated for eminent domain for the American Parkway expansion project because of her…
Allentown officials accused of sexual discrimination during eminent domain proceedings
“The owner of a Lehigh County contracting company seeks more than $1 million in relief from the city of Allentown and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, claiming sexual discrimination prevented her from receiving fair market…