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City manager urges rewrite of archaic eminent-domain language; city attorney recommends shorter, state-law-based text
Summary
During the June 17 meeting the City Manager questioned whether the charter’s eminent-domain language — written in railroad-era terms — remains legally appropriate; city attorney said counsel recommended replacing it with concise language referencing state law and preserving the city's full authority.
City Manager Wick Miller Behringer raised a legal concern at the Charter Review Committee’s June 17 meeting about Article 10.01, the section of the City of Venice charter that assigns the power of eminent domain.
"As I was reading at 10.01, the power of eminent domain assigned to the city was likened to the power of eminent domain of railroads," Miller Behringer said, asking whether the formulation still fits modern legal precedent. "Is this still legal?"
City Attorney Ritchie said she ran the paragraph past one of the city’s eminent-domain lawyers, who described the language as very old. Ritchie recommended replacing the long, specific paragraph with shorter, more general language that preserves the city's authority consistent with state law. She offered an example from another city’s charter: "The city shall have the full power and right to exercise the power of eminent domain when necessary or desirable to carry out any of the powers conferred upon it by this charter and the constitution and the laws of the state of Texas." Ritchie said a shorter provision would both modernize the charter and avoid unintentionally limiting the city's power.
Committee members agreed Section 10.01 should be rewritten; the Chair asked Ritchie to draft a concise, state-law-consistent replacement and return it at a subsequent meeting. The rewrite was not a voteable action at this meeting but was recorded as a direction to counsel.
