Don Chairez for District Attorney

Tuesday, September 20, 2005, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ex-judge targets eminent domain

Chairez to file initiative petition today with state

By ERIN NEFF

Former District Judge Don Chairez plans to file an initiative petition this morning seeking to limit the government’s ability to take private land by eminent domain.

The petition, the ‘People’s Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land, or PISTOL, was to be filed with the Secretary of States office to begin the process of qualifying for the November 2006 ballot, The petitioners will need to secure 8 signatures to qualify.

“We’re pushing the initiate to really define what eminent domain is,” Chairez said. “The Nevada Supreme Court hasn’t necessarily been hostile to eminent domain victims, but they haven’t gone far enough to protect them.”

The initiative is being filed in response to a June US. Supreme Court ruling in a New London, Conn., case. The 5-4 vote determined the waterfront town was permitted to force out the owners of 15 homes who had been holding up the development of land for schools and roads. But he added there has been abuse of eminent domain proceedings in Nevada. He mentioned how the family of Carol Pappas had to fight the city of Las Vegas for 11 years before it received just compensation for its downtown property. The city seized the family’s property in 1993 for use as a parking garage for businesses.

The Pappases initially were offered $380,000. After years of litigation, they settled for $4.5 million in 2004. People normally aren’t as strong as the Pappases, and they cave in,” Chairez said. “The governments undervalue their property and threaten them.”

Under PISTOL, all appraisals of land a government wants to acquire must he given to the property owners before a case is taken to court. Owners also are entitled to have district court juries determine that the land to be taken will be for a public use, not for a private development.
When compensation is determined, property owners must be given the highest price the property would bring on the open market.” Property owners are not liable to the government for attorneys fees and must be given money for the economic losses of their property.