Bill puts moratorium on taking of private property

The bill also allows for a study of the state's eminent domain laws.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A bill that would place a moratorium on government's ability to take private property for use by a private business and set up a task force to study the state's eminent domain laws is on its way to Gov. Bob Taft's desk.
The Ohio House of Representatives approved, by a vote of 95-0, the measure Wednesday.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed the same measure, sponsored by state Sens. Timothy J. Grendell, a Chesterland Republican, and Kimberly Zurz, an Akron-area Democrat, earlier this month and concurred, 31-0, in minor House changes Wednesday.
The Grendell and Zurz bill, as well as other measures pending in the Legislature, come in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
In June, the nation's highest court upheld the right of the New London, Conn., city government to seize property for private development that city leaders say would generate more tax revenue.
Bill's details
According to a legislative analysis, the bill would place a moratorium on eminent domain for private development until Dec. 31, 2006.
Under the measure, any state or local government during that time may not take without the owner's consent private property that is in an unblighted area if the primary purpose is economic development that would ultimately result in giving the property to another private owner.
The Senate-passed bill would also create a legislative task force to study eminent domain, according to the bill analysis. Taft has indicated he sees a need to study the state's eminent domain laws, a spokesman for the Republican governor said.