Saratoga News

Property rights bill still awaits Senate vote

By Jeff Kearns

Last year's property rights bill, which would allow local zoning decisions to be appealed directly to federal court, is still alive and kicking on Capitol Hill.

Passed by the House Oct. 22 by a margin of 248-178, HR 1534 was sent over to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was extensively amended and renamed the Citzens Access to Justice Act of 1998. The bill enjoys the support of Senate Republicans, who have discussed the bill as a priority for this year, but Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has not yet scheduled the bill for a floor debate.

Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have vowed to filibuster the bill. A spokesperson for Feinstein says the senator still has many problems with the bill and, as a former mayor, is especially concerned about how the bill could usurp the authority of local governments.

The Clinton administration has issued a statement saying that it strongly opposes the bill "because it would shift authority over state and local land use issues to federal courts, creating a threat of expensive litigation that would favor the wealthy developer over the common homeowner." The president has threatened to veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk.

Opponents of the bill say that it would let developers circumvent local officials by allowing them to take their case straight to federal court after being denied a permit or application. The costs associated with taking local cases to federal court would be too high for municipalities, opponents say, and would give wealthy developers an unfair advantage. Some environmentalists worry that the bill could compensate private landowners for simply obeying environmental regulations.

But the bill's supporters say that the current appeals process is too lengthy and expensive, ultimately depriving landowners of the use of their property to the fullest extent--and thereby violating Fifth Amendment rights. And many times, the decision reached by the federal court is the same as the original decision handed out by lower courts.

Republican senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Paul Coverdell of Georgia have both introduced their own property rights bills in the Senate, but neither has been considered on the floor. HR 1534, or some variation thereof, remains the most likely to see a vote.

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