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Help for Owners Facing Land Grab for Natural Gas Pipeline

By Paul D. Bain

Following a July 26 announcement by Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) to build two natural gas pipelines totaling 590-miles, hundreds of property owners may face the unwanted taking of their land. FPL?s pipeline will begin in west Alabama, cross Florida, and end at the utility company?s plant in Martin County.

FPL has had attorneys, agents, and experts all working to build its billion-dollar pipeline, long before the plans were drawn and the project was publicly announced. As a public utility, FPL will be using the power of eminent domain to take property for its pipeline project. To take private property, FPL will issue a notice to an owner, prepare a real estate valuation report, make a written offer, and then file an eminent domain lawsuit.

Owners facing an unwanted taking have rights to protect them. An owner is not required to accept FPL?s offer or settle for less than full compensation. A landowner must be paid the full value for all that is taken and damages to all that remains. Compensation can also include the cost to repair damages caused by the taking to land and improvements.

Florida?s constitution requires FPL, and other condemning authorities, to pay an owner?s attorney?s fees in eminent domain. Florida law also requires FPL to pay an owner?s reasonable costs in eminent domain, including the cost of hiring a real estate appraiser and other experts. An owner?s lawyer and experts should thoroughly evaluate the taking and all of its impacts to ensure that an owner does not settle for any less than full compensation.

As an owner, you should be careful about what you say about the value of your property.?FPL and its team may try to use your statements to pay less in eminent domain. ?Feedback from the community? can later become an admission by the owner. You are not required to provide any information to FPL or its agents.

As an owner, you may also unintentionally establish the value of your land. You should be careful when considering listing the property for sale, appealing real estate tax assessments against the property, or securing financing for the property. An owner may also have an attorney review any leases or easements on the property. An existing lease or easement can profoundly affect compensation recovered and whether the eminent domain award must be shared with others.

Owners facing a taking of their land for FPL?s pipeline do not need to be confused and can find protection under Florida?s laws.

Paul D. Bain is an attorney with Trenam Kemker in Tampa, practicing exclusively in eminent domain throughout Florida for over 19 years.?

Source: http://madisonfloridavoice.net/?p=35743

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