This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah lawmakers are exploring ways to give private-property owners more clout against government in condemnation clashes.
One idea: Require the government to pay above fair-market value when it seizes land.
"I don't know if that's a great policy idea," Mike Ostermiller, who heads the Weber/North Davis Association of Realtors, told the Legislature's Political Subdivision Committee this week.
"We should stick to the closest thing we have to science, and that's the appraised value."
The practice of eminent domain usually involves the disparate juxtaposition of an eager governmental entity with many resources seeking to buy land from an unwilling property owner with limited resources.
Ostermiller said the core of the problem is the disparity in bargaining power between the condemning authority and the landowner.
"Often times the landowner is an average citizen," he said, "with limited means and limited sophistication."
On the other hand, the government group - be it the Utah Department of Transportation working to expand a road or a city hoping to redevelop a blighted area - has staff attorneys to navigate the legal process when negotiations reach an impasse.
Ostermiller suggested reimbursement of the landowners' legal fees - if they prevail in court - could help level the playing field.
"The average person cannot afford to hire an attorney for any protracted litigation," Ostermiller said.
"Even if you win, you spend more than what you get."
Taz Biesinger, executive vice president for the Utah Home Builders Association, pointed out that fair-market value usually involves two willing parties.
"In eminent domain, the seller is not willing and that must be factored in," Biesinger said.
"As you know, the appraisal business is not a pure science."
In Utah, unwilling sellers can get help from the state's property-rights ombudsman.
"We need to make sure we're as close to scientific measure as we can be," said Brent Bateman, lead attorney for that office.
"If there are a lot of questions about what the value should be, it's almost impossible for us to do our job without some judicial involvement."
Legislators reached no decisions on how to tweak the state's eminent-domain laws.