Al Yelton Chapter in Grant County
League of Kentucky Property Owners
Second Annual Meeting — Monday, May 19, 2003
You are invited to attend the Grant County League of the Kentucky Property Owner’s second annual public meeting on Monday, May 19th at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Grant County High School.
The guest speakers are Kentucky State Senator Daymon Thayer and Dr. Jeff Edgens. Senator Thayer is a member of the Grant County League. He will have the latest news about the tobacco buy out. Dr. Jeff Edgens is knowledgeable about property rights and how they can be protected. Dr. Edgens stays informed and keeps a database detailing how property rights are continually under attack by other organizations and governmental bodies.
So mark your calendar now. It’s time to renew memberships. It’s also a good time to join the League of Kentucky Property Owners or just come and check us out.
Message from the President
Patriotism
My profession necessitates I travel extensively in our tri-state area. I noted something, before 9/11/2001, that generated respect from me for my fellow citizens --- displaying of our American Flag. These were the people who have ALWAYS had an abiding love for their country and the freedom it provides. These are the kinds of Patriots who were around when our country was bloodily carved from the British rule.
I now see many more American Flags displayed. These are the new found Patriots. We can only be hopeful that they may prove to be equally as intense in their protection of our Nations liberties.
Your membership in the League places you in the former category. You see the value of our Constitutional rights and have elected to participate in their protections in whatever way you can. You wait not for tragedies to express these values, but keep them in your life’s forefront daily.
May God continue to bless you for this.
william h adkisson, president
One man with courage is a majority…Thomas Jefferson
Chinese Secure Property Rights
A small, but vocal group of Chinese legislators are clamoring for secure property
rights and the rule of law. Meeting in the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing,
"a group of 30 legislators called for a constitutional amendment that would
protect and encourage private businesses by making private property 'sacrosanct
and inviolable'." The lack of property rights is causing businesses to
invest overseas rather than risk confiscation by greedy government officials.
The capitalist influence in China is growing, although there are currently only
133 private enterprise advocates in a field of 3,000 delegates to the National
People's Congress. Lou Zhongfu, a millionaire, said, "The government's
functions have to change. It must not dominate and control the market. A private
economy needs rule of law, not commands." There is no hope for property
rights legislation this session, but delegates believe a constitutional amendment
will be passed in a couple of years.
Taken from a recent article published in the Kentucky Post:
Land preservation plan on hold; proposal would pay landowner
By Luke E. Saladin
Post staff reporter
A proposal to preserve farmland in fast-growing Boone County remains in limbo. The proposal has gained little momentum since a study about how to make it work was presented to the Fiscal Court in late 2001. And no one knows when, if ever, the county will act. The proposal calls for the county to pay cash to landowners who forego the development potential on their properties. The proposal is modeled after similar programs on the East Coast and Fayette County in Kentucky.
Kevin Costello, executive director of the Boone County Planning Commission, said the intent was not to move forward immediately with the proposed plan, but to have it ready should the need for such a program arise. "The plan is there if we need it, but it is just one of many tools we have at our disposal for land conservation," Costello said.
Echoing a view shared by several groups, including the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky, County Administrator Jim Parsons and Judge-Executive Gary Moore remain hesitant about participating in the project because it uses taxpayer money to buy development rights to land for which that public won't have access.
"Our position has always been that we have no problem purchasing land used for parks or anything else that the public can use," Parsons said. "But we are very hesitant to spend taxpayer money on private land, especially without public support," Parsons said.
Parsons and Moore said even if the county wanted to develop a so-called PDR program, which stands for Purchase of Development Rights program, three critical factors stand in the way.
* Funding -- Fayette County's PDR program is expected to cost $50 million to $100 million over the next 25 years. If Boone were to fund its own program, it likely would have to be subsidized to some extent by local taxes.
* Public support -- Planning officials admit that few people understand what a PDR program entails. Parsons said the county wouldn't work to develop a plan unless a large number of county residents supports it.
* Change in state law -- State law only allows PDR programs in urban county governments, meaning only Fayette and Jefferson counties currently qualify. To get the law changed, an aggressive lobbying effort would be needed on the part of county officials and constituents.
Sierra Club Continues Quest
The Sierra Club defined “efficient urban density” as a city containing
500 housing units to the acre. Put another way, 500 families would have to live
on an acre of land which is 209 x 209 feet. The Sierra Club has become very
irrational in their quest to curtail growth.
We constantly hear that growth must be controlled and that American is quickly losing its farmland and open space. But even the U.S. Bureau of Census classifies less that 5 percent of the U.S. as being developed and less that 2.5 percent as urban. Even New York and Pennsylvania are only 10 percent developed. New Jersey, the most developed state, has only 30 percent of its land developed.
The aggressive promotion of smart growth policies by some politicians and many in the media is a gross misrepresentation of the facts and threatens the freedom of ordinary Americans to choose living arrangements that best suit their needs.
Another Victory in Hage
The court has issued its written opinion denying the governments fourth summary judgment motion filed in Hage v. United States. The government filed its motion arguing in part that the case should be dismissed because Hage did not have access (via the grazing permit) to the stock water rights and ditch rights the court determined Hage owned in its January 29, 2002 decision, therefore these rights are noncompensable. The court disagreed finding the property rights owned by Hage were pre-existing to the permit system and "the court is not of the opinion that lack of a grazing permit that prevents access to federal lands can eliminate Plaintiff’s vested water rights and ditch rights." The court continued, "The value of these rights, if any, is something to be determined at trial."
This is a significant precedent because it demonstrates that even though the government eliminates a landowner’s grazing permit, this does not preclude the landowner from pursing a takings claim for the property the government has kept them from accessing.
It is important to note this court is not considering the question whether or not a rancher is required to have a grazing permit. The Claims Court’s jurisdiction is over whether the regulations at issue has taken property without just compensation. The court is holding a status hearing on the case and hopefully a trial date for the takings and valuation phase will be set soon.
Update from the Al Yelton Chapter in Grant County
League of Kentucky Property Owners
The Grant County League has had a petition out about the 10-acre agriculture-1 zone and we have several names but need more. During April we put several advertisements in the Grant County News and the Express. If you didn’t see the ads, then please take a moment to fill it out below, and mail to us. We will present the names to the fiscal court to make our case for only one agriculture zone of 5 acres in Grant County.
You are welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Grant County Farm Bureau building.
Submitted by:
Charlie Phillips, President
Al Yelton chapter in Grant County