SENATE BILL NO. 363
INTRODUCED BY KAUFMANN, LEWIS, PARKER, MACLAREN
AN ACT PROVIDING THAT PRIVATE PROPERTY MAY BE CONDEMNED THROUGH THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS ONLY IF THE PROPERTY IS DETERMINED TO BE BLIGHTED AND MAY NOT BE ACQUIRED BY EMINENT DOMAIN IF THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT IS TO INCREASE TAX REVENUE; PROVIDING THAT THE CONDEMNED PROPERTY MUST BE APPLIED TO A DEMONSTRATED PUBLIC USE; PROVIDING PROCEDURES IF THE PROPERTY IS SOLD; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 7-15-4259, 70-30-102, 70-30-111, AND 70-30-322, MCA.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 7-15-4259, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-15-4259. Exercise of power of eminent domain. (1) After the adoption by the local governing body of a resolution declaring that the acquisition of the real property described in the resolution is necessary for an urban renewal project under this part, a municipality may acquire by condemnation, as provided in Title 70, chapter 30, any interest in real property that it considers necessary for urban renewal.
(2) Condemnation for urban renewal of blighted areas, as defined in 7-15-4206(2)(a), (2)(h), (2)(k), or (2)(n), is a public use, and property already devoted to any other public use or acquired by the owner or the owner's predecessor in interest by eminent domain may be condemned for the purposes of this part.
(3) The award of compensation for real property taken for an urban renewal project may not be increased by reason of any increase in the value of the real property caused by the assembly, clearance, or reconstruction or proposed assembly, clearance, or reconstruction in the project area. An allowance may not be made for the improvements begun on real property after notice to the owner of the property of the institution of proceedings to condemn the property. Evidence is admissible bearing upon the unsanitary, unsafe, or substandard condition of the premises or the unlawful use of the premises."
Section 2. Section 70-30-102, MCA, is amended to read:
"70-30-102. Public uses enumerated. Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the right of eminent domain may be exercised for the following public uses:
(1) all public uses authorized by the government of the United States;
(2) public buildings and grounds for the use of the state and all other public uses authorized by the legislature of the state;
(3) public buildings and grounds for the use of any county, city, town, or school district;
(4) canals, aqueducts, flumes, ditches, or pipes conducting water, heat, or gas for the use of the inhabitants of any county, city, or town;
(5) projects to raise the banks of streams, remove obstructions from streambanks, and widen, deepen, or straighten stream channels;
(6) water and water supply systems as provided in Title 7, chapter 13, part 44;
(7) roads, streets, alleys, controlled-access facilities, and all other public uses publicly owned buildings and facilities for the benefit of a county, city, or town or the inhabitants of a county, city, or town;
(8) acquisition of road-building material as provided in 7-14-2123;
(9) stock lanes as provided in 7-14-2621;
(10) parking areas as provided in 7-14-4501 and 7-14-4622;
(11) airport purposes as provided in 7-14-4801, 67-2-301, 67-7-210, and Title 67, chapters 10 and 11;
(12) urban renewal projects as provided in Title 7, chapter 15, parts 42 and 43, except that private property may be acquired for urban renewal through eminent domain only if the property is determined to be a blighted area, as defined in 7-15-4206(2)(a), (2)(h), (2)(k), or (2)(n), and may not be acquired for urban renewal through eminent domain if the purpose of the project is to increase government tax revenue;
(13) housing authority purposes as provided in Title 7, chapter 15, part 44;
(14) county recreational and cultural purposes as provided in 7-16-2105;
(15) city or town athletic fields and civic stadiums as provided in 7-16-4106;
(16) county cemetery purposes as provided in 7-35-2201, cemetery association purposes as provided in 35-20-104, and state veterans' cemetery purposes as provided in 10-2-604;
(17) preservation of historical or archaeological sites as provided in 23-1-102 and 87-1-209(2);
(18) public assistance purposes as provided in 53-2-201;
(19) highway purposes as provided in 60-4-103 and 60-4-104;
(20) common carrier pipelines as provided in 69-13-104;
(21) water supply, water transportation, and water treatment systems as provided in 75-6-313;
(22) mitigation of the release or threatened release of a hazardous or deleterious substance as provided in 75-10-720;
(23) the acquisition of nonconforming outdoor advertising as provided in 75-15-123;
(24) screening for or the relocation or removal of junkyards, motor vehicle graveyards, motor vehicle wrecking facilities, garbage dumps, and sanitary landfills as provided in 75-15-223;
(25) water conservation and flood control projects as provided in 76-5-1108;
(26) acquisition of natural areas as provided in 76-12-108;
(27) acquisition of water rights for the natural flow of water as provided in 85-1-204;
(28) property and water rights necessary for waterworks as provided in 85-1-209 and 85-7-1904;
(29) conservancy district purposes as provided in 85-9-410;
(30) wharves, docks, piers, chutes, booms, ferries, bridges, private roads, plank and turnpike roads, and railroads;
(31) canals, ditches, flumes, aqueducts, and pipes for:
(a) supplying mines, mills, and smelters for the reduction of ores;
(b) supplying farming neighborhoods with water and drainage;
(c) reclaiming lands; and
(d) floating logs and lumber on streams that are not navigable;
(32) sites for reservoirs necessary for collecting and storing water. However, reservoir sites must possess a public use demonstrable to the district court as the highest and best use of the land.
(33) roads, tunnels, and dumping places for working mines, mills, or smelters for the reduction of ores;
(34) outlets, natural or otherwise, for the flow, deposit, or conduct of tailings or refuse matter from mines, mills, and smelters for the reduction of ores;
(35) an occupancy in common by the owners or the possessors of different mines of any place for the flow, deposit, or conduct of tailings or refuse matter from their several mines, mills, or smelters for reduction of ores and sites for reservoirs necessary for collecting and storing water for the mines, mills, or smelters. However, the reservoir sites must possess a public use demonstrable to the district court as the highest and best use of the land.
(36) private roads leading from highways to residences or farms;
(37) telephone or electrical energy lines;
(38) telegraph lines;
(39) sewerage of any:
(a) county, city, or town or any subdivision of a county, city, or town, whether incorporated or unincorporated;
(b) settlement consisting of not less than 10 families; or
(c) public buildings belonging to the state or to any college or university;
(40) tramway lines;
(41) logging railways;
(42) temporary logging roads and banking grounds for the transportation of logs and timber products to public streams, lakes, mills, railroads, or highways for a time that the court or judge may determine. However, the grounds of state institutions may not be used for this purpose.
(43) underground reservoirs suitable for storage of natural gas;
(44) projects to mine and extract ores, metals, or minerals owned by the condemnor located beneath or upon the surface of property where the title to the surface vests in others. However, the use of the surface of property for strip mining or open-pit mining of coal (i.e., any mining method or process in which the strata or overburden is removed or displaced in order to extract the coal) is not a public use, and eminent domain may not be exercised for this purpose.
(45) projects to restore and reclaim lands that were strip mined or underground mined for coal and not reclaimed in accordance with Title 82, chapter 4, part 2, and to abate or control adverse affects of strip or underground mining on those lands."
Section 3. Section 70-30-111, MCA, is amended to read:
"70-30-111. Facts necessary to be found before condemnation. Before property can be taken, the condemnor shall show by a preponderance of the evidence that the public interest requires the taking based on the following findings:
(1) the use to which the property is to be applied is a public use authorized by law pursuant to 70-30-102;
(2) the taking is necessary to the public use;
(3) if already being used for a public use, that the public use for which the property is proposed to be used is a more necessary public use;
(4) an effort to obtain the property interest sought to be taken was made by submission of a written offer and the offer was rejected."
Section 4. Section 70-30-322, MCA, is amended to read:
"70-30-322. Option of original owner or successor in interest to purchase at sale price. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3), the owner from whom the real property interest was originally acquired by eminent domain or otherwise or the owner's successor in interest, if there is a successor in interest, must be notified by the seller by certified mail and has a 30-day option from the date of a sale provided for in 70-30-321 to purchase the interest by offering an amount of money equal to the highest bid received for the interest at the sale. If more than one person claims an equal entitlement, the option may not be exercised.
(2) If bids are not received by the seller and the optionholder indicates in writing to the seller that the optionholder wishes to exercise the option, the seller shall must have the real property interest appraised and shall sell the interest at that price to the optionholder.
(3) When an interest, other than a fee simple interest, in property that has been acquired for a public purpose by right of eminent domain, or otherwise, is abandoned or when the purpose for which it was acquired is terminated, the property reverts to the original owner or the original owner's successor in interest."
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