The Internet has complicated life for Wash. property owners feari...
The Internet has complicated life for Wash. property owners fearing govt. land grabs, said state Attorney Gen. Rob McKenna (R). He and Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) introduced a request for 2007 legislation requiring earlier notice to owners before property…
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can be taken for public use. To save money, some state and local agencies simply put notice of public meetings to discuss possible property condemnations on their websites, but even that’s not uniform practice, AG Outreach Dir. Luke Esser told us. Landowners were notified by mail and newspaper notice only after property was condemned. This would be the first time that Wash. law required agencies to directly tell landowners their property is under consideration for condemnation, “making sure they have access [to agency deliberations] while there’s still a chance to affect the decision,” he added. “We shouldn’t expect people to click through hundreds of Web pages every week to make sure their property isn’t being considered for condemnation,” McKenna said. The requested bill would require property owners be sent a registered letter and a legal notice be published in a “local newspaper of record,” stating when the agency involved will hold a public meeting to consider the condemnation. A certified letter costs $4.64, McKenna said. The move arose from a 2006 Wash. Supreme Court decision in Sound Transit v. Miller, which upheld the regional transit agency’s argument that Web posting of a property considered for condemnation was adequate notice to the landowner.