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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.88 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:20010110 Primary Sponsor:Elliott All Sponsors:Elliott, Reese Drafted Document Number:l:\s-res\de\023emin.whb.doc Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:Eminent domain, property appraisal; government administering land use regulations to adopt certain procedures; Taxation History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ Senate 20010110 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND TITLE 28 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO EMINENT DOMAIN, BY ADDING CHAPTER 4 SO AS TO REQUIRE ALL STATE, COUNTY, MUNICIPAL, LOCAL, AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES WHICH ADMINISTER LAND USE REGULATIONS TO ADOPT REGULATIONS AND INTERNAL PROCEDURES FOR APPRAISING PROPERTY AND COMPENSATING PROPERTY OWNERS FOR PROPERTY TAKEN UNDER EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEDURES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR INVERSE CONDEMNATION ACTION BY A PROPERTY OWNER.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 28 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 28-4-10. (A) Except as provided herein, the terms defined in Section 28-2-30 are applicable to this chapter. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Acquire' means acquisition of an interest in real property or property rights and includes any enactment or enforcement of a regulation that has the effect of limiting or extinguishing any existing rights to use real property by an owner, whether or not such regulation involves the physical appropriation or invasion of real property, and whether or not such regulation transfers such right to use to a governmental entity.
(2) 'Condemn' means the acquisition of an interest in real property by governmental entities through regulation.
(3) 'Governmental entity' means the General Assembly or a board, authority, commission, council, committee, department, office, individual, or agency in the executive branch of government; a political subdivision of the State; or a special purpose district.
(4) 'Interest in real property' means any rights to the use of property which may be limited through regulation by a governmental entity.
(5) 'Investment' as used in the term 'investment backed expectations' shall include the giving of value for the acquisition of property; the giving of value to maintain, improve or retain ownership of property; the decision not to sell an interest in real property in the expectation of future use or sale; or the giving of value to develop or improve adjacent property.
(6) 'Nuisance' means the unreasonable, unwarranted or unlawful use of property, as traditionally recognized in the common law, and is limited to those uses whose prohibition inheres in the title of the property and which use could be enjoined by adjacent land owners or other uniquely affected persons or by the State under its power to abate nuisances that affect the public generally.
(7) 'Regulation' means all land use regulation, rules or emergency rules, statutes, ordinances, dedications, or denials of permits, licenses, authorizations or other governmental permission if such denial is without cause or if such denial is with cause but is based upon selective enforcement of any statute, regulation, or standard, any of which has the effect of limiting or imposing conditions upon the owner's rights to use or occupy property. 'Regulation' does not mean:
(a) the exercise of the power of eminent domain to physically appropriate real property or to effect the physical invasion of real property;
(b) the repeal or amendment of a statute, rule, ordinance, requirement, or other action if the repeal or amendment qualifies, lessens, or reverses a limitation or restriction on the use of private property;
(c) a state government action specifically mandated by a federal governmental authority, to the extent that the state action does not result from the exercise of legislative, executive, or administrative discretion;
(d) law enforcement activity involving the seizure or forfeiture of private property for a violation of law or as evidence in a criminal proceeding; or
(e) any regulation which would otherwise be included in this definition, to the extent that it does not affect existing property rights, or clarifies, restates, or otherwise imposes restrictions on property use which were already in effect prior to the enactment of the regulation; provided, however, that when a regulation imposes new or broader restrictions, to that extent, the regulation shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter; and further provided that exemptions created by this section shall not serve to limit or extinguish any rights or causes of action resulting from prior legislation.
(B) Not later than January 1, 2002, all executive governmental entities which administer or issue land use regulations shall adopt regulations and internal procedures for the implementation of the policies contained in this section.
(C) Prior to adoption or enforcement of regulations affecting land use, governmental entities shall assess the proposed regulation or proposed manner of enforcing the regulation and prepare a written assessment which states the following findings:
(1) the specific purpose of the proposed regulation;
(2) the probable effect of the proposed action on the use and value of private property, including an evaluation of the probable cost of acquisition of an interest in that property through enactment or enforcement of the regulation;
(3) alternatives to the proposed action that may lessen the effect on private property or which may involve lower probable costs to the State; and
(4) an estimate of the cost to the governmental entity's budget for such compensation.
If there is an immediate threat to health and safety that constitutes an emergency and requires immediate action, the assessment required under this section may be postponed until the action is complete.
The governmental entity shall deliver copies of this assessment to the Governor, appropriate financial management authority, and the Attorney General.
Section 28-4-20. (A) To the extent reasonably possible, governmental entities shall avoid adopting or enforcing regulations in a manner that constitutes a taking of property requiring the payment of just compensation in accordance with the Constitution of this State or of the United States or which would require compensation under the provisions of this chapter.
In cases wherein the adoption or enforcement of a regulation appears to give rise to a right to compensation under the Constitution of this State or of the United States, under the common law of this State, under the statutes of this State, or under the provisions of this section, the proposed regulation shall be treated as an acquisition of an interest in real property under the Eminent Domain Procedure Act and the governmental entity shall proceed to condemn that interest in real property in accordance with the provisions of the Eminent Domain Procedure Act.
Any regulation of real property shall give rise to a right to compensation when an appraisal or other valuation pursuant to this section or the Eminent Domain Procedure Act indicates a substantial diminution of the total value of the real property resulting from the regulation.
Section 28-4-30. (A) For the purposes of this chapter, in appraising property rights which may be acquired through land use regulation and in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Eminent Domain Procedure Act, the following additional factors shall be taken into account:
(1) the economic impact of the regulation on the property owner;
(2) the extent to which the regulation interferes with distinct investment backed expectations;
(3) the character of the regulation;
(4) the present use of the property and of adjacent property;
(5) the probable future use of the property;
(6) the extent to which the use of the property is already limited by other regulations, nuisance laws, and the use of adjacent property;
(7) the extent to which remaining uses of the property are economically viable;
(8) any economic benefit to the property as a result of the proposed regulation; and
(9) the existence of any liens or encumbrances on the property, and the extent to which claims secured by such liens or encumbrances on the property prior to the regulation exceed the extent to which such claims are secured by liens or encumbrances on the property subject to the regulation.
(B) If a property owner paid property taxes based upon a particular valuation or use of the property, that tax payment shall not be relevant to the valuation of property or an interest in property for the purposes of this chapter. However, in the event that compensation is awarded based upon an anticipated change in valuation or use, payment of such compensation shall be equivalent to a sale or change in use for tax purposes and the property may be subject to such tax rollbacks as would otherwise be effective in the event of a sale or change in use.
(C) If any governmental entity fails to institute condemnation proceedings and the enforcement or enactment of the regulation has the effect of diminishing the value of real property, then the property owner shall be entitled to bring an inverse condemnation action for damages and shall be entitled to reimbursements of fees and costs as provided in Section 28-11-30(3). Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as limiting the rights of a property owner to seek damages for inverse condemnation or constitutional takings, or to challenge the constitutionality of any regulation."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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