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by Amy Beth Graves

State lawmakers are busy crafting eminent domain legislation in response to the findings of a 2006 task force that conducted an extensive study of eminent domain in Ohio. The proposed bills come at a time when a poll shows the majority of Ohioans support tougher limits on the government taking of private property.

Earlier this month, a Senate committee started holding hearings on Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Sen. Timothy Grendell, R-Chesterland. Grendell was co-chair of the 25-member eminent domain task force, which was created last year in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that cities could take private property for economic development. Larry Gearhardt, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s (OFBF) senior director of local affairs, represented agriculture on the task force, which included attorneys, city officials, lawmakers and a judge.

The full Senate is scheduled to vote April 17 on S.B. 7, said Rocky Black, OFBF’s senior director of policy and political affairs. Both Gearhardt and Dick Barbee, Franklin County Farm Bureau president, have testified before lawmakers about how eminent domain affects farmers. A similar bill introduced by Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, is pending in the House.

"There’s a good chance that Senate Bill 7 will pass the full Senate intact," Black said. "It basically recommends many of the findings of the task force."

One of the recommendations in the bill is that eminent domain be used only if 90 percent of the property owners in an area agree to the proposed eminent domain project. Other recommendations are that properties must be found to be blighted for government to take the land, and property owners would be awarded attorney fees and other costs if the government is found to have offered too low of an initial buyout price, Black said. The bill also provides a definition of what constitutes blight.

If passed, S.B. 7 would need Senate Joint Resolution 1 to pass to be adequately enforced, Black said. S.J.R. 1, which would require a constitutional amendment, would limit cities’ home-rule power on eminent domain, Black said. It was proposed by Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls. The constitutional amendment issue could wind up on the ballot as early as this November.

Eminent domain has been a "sleepy issue" recently with new Gov. Ted Strickland’s budget proposal (see story on Page 2) grabbing most of the headlines. But Black predicted that will change if S.B. 7 passes.

"I think once it moves out of the Senate that cities will start getting serious and come out against it or try to modify it. I think it’s going to be a tougher fight on the House side," he said.

Black noted that Farm Bureau’s stance on eminent domain, which calls for numerous reforms to ensure fair treatment of landowners, is echoed by many Ohioans. A recent poll found that a majority of Ohio voters support banning the government taking of private property. Among the findings of the Quinnipiac University poll are:

• Eight-two percent of voters polled oppose using eminent domain to take property for economic development.
• Sixty-five percent of voters oppose using the government’s eminent domain power to take private property for public projects, including roads.
• Fifty percent of voters believe that the government has abused eminent domain in the past.

"More than 80 percent of Ohioans agree with us – that eminent domain is a fundamental American value and shouldn’t be abused," Black said. "Eminent domain affects farmers more so because they live and die by the property they own."