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yy 5 ti 4 ,9, i j............);.,. , - A.A...\ 7 '' '-; K In I -, A .A,,,, , ...Emma owramosomoi NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 12TH YEAR, NUMBER 15 NAR wetlands backed Landowners' rights which was published in the June 24 issue of recognize that existing wetlands regula- REALTOR NEWS®, is credited with adding tions could potentially result in a govern- at least 25 co-sponsors to the bill, says ment`taking' of private property." legislation advances NAR Chief Lobbyist Stephen D. Driesler. "The co-sponsorship numbers on the Rouda in June also sent mailgrams to two bills indicate a growing recognition of By Pamela Geurds 24,814 REALTORS® in 14 targeted slates, the need to protect private property owners The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF asking them to write their U.S. senators from excessive federal regulation," REALTORS®is gaining ground in its and urge support for the Senate bill. NAR Schmelzer says. efforts to.ensure that the rights of so far has learned that nearly 500 Another piece of NAR-supported legisla- private property owners are protected un- REALTORS®have acted on the request. tion in the Senate, The Private Property der federal wetlands regulations. Michael Schmelzer, broker-owner of Rights Act of 1991, sponsored by Sen. ,.F Among recent developments: Tryax Realty Inc. in White Plains, N.Y., Steve Symms, R-Idaho, also seeks to pro- • Increasing co-sponsorship of NAR- and chairman of NAR's REALTORS® Leg- tect landowners from government supported bills in the U.S.House of Repre- islative Committee, says the association's "takings"of private property.The bill was sentatives and Senate that would provide goal in supporting the bills is "to get Con- compensation to property owners whose gress, federal agencies and the courts to land is found to contain a high-quality wet- , — __ i land.Development on such land is severely restricted. Private property WETLANDS •Senate approval of _ .7 a bill that would re- fghts gain support quire federal agencies to provide compensa- tion to property own- From page 1 era when the agencies adopted by the full Senate in June. .\\I issue regulations that Under the bill,federal agencies would be • unavoidably result in required to assess the impact of any pro- s government "tak- regulation on private property rights. ing" of private prop If a proposed regulation would lead to a erty. federal government taking or a devaluation • Release of a re- of private property, the agencies must in- vised federal manual vestigate other, less intrusive alternatives used to identify wetlands that includes a to the regulation and,when no alternatives less ambiguous definition of a wetland. exist, must provide compensation to land- •A recent report by the Presidential Ad- owners. visory Commission on Regulatory Barriers Companion legislation introduced earlier to Affordable Housing that targets exces- this year in the House by Rep.James Olin, sive state and federal wetlands regulation D-Va.,has gathered at least 88 co-sponsors. as a barrier to affordable housing. Such congressional affirmations of pri- "There's a growing interest on the part vate property owners' rights are "desper- of Congress to approach environmental is- ately needed," says Eloise Seamon, a sales sues with a sense of balance that takes into associate with RE/MAX Affiliates in Al- consideration private property rights," exandria, Va., and part owner of Seamon says Patricia Campbell-White,chairman of Construction Co. in Alexandria. NAR's Energy,Environment and Develop- i Seamon's plans to develop five acres of ment Subcommittee. ` land she owns in Ocean City, Md., have "This sense of balance is all we've been •stalled because an Army Corps of Engi- asking for. We recognize the need to pro- neers wetlands mitigation project con- `. tect the environment,and we are support- ducted in the late 1980s changed the grade _ ive of such protections, but private prop- r. of a nearby land parcel so that storm water y erty rights must be protected as well,"says ? from that land runs onto Seamon's prop- Campbell-White,president of The Pruden- erty,creating a wetland,she says. L.. tial Joy-Gallo, REALTORS®, in Rehoboth "Our founding fathers fought and died Beach,Del. for private property rights, but where are In the House,the NAR-supported Cora- i those rights today?"says Seamon. prehensive Wetlands Conservation and ! She says she also faces state fines for Management Act of 1991, introduced ear- ( unlawfully disturbing a wetland because her this year by Reps. Jimmy Hayes, D- she dug a drainage ditch at the edge of her La., and Thomas Ridge, R-Pa., has so far property several years ago to catch the ex- gathered at least 159 co-sponsors. cessive storm water runoff. The bill,H.R. 1330,would provide corn- "I don't see how my property can be con- pensation to property owners whose land is sidered a wetland when the only water on it "taken" as a result of its designation as a is the storm water runoff from another premier class of wetland.Land that is des- piece of land," Seamen says. ignated as a wetland may be devalued be- q In an effort to more clearly define what I cause it often loses much or all of its devel- constitutes a wetland, the U.S. Environ- 1 opment potential. mental Protection Agency in July sent to A companion bill in the Senate,S. 1463, ' Congress a revised version of a federal wet- introduced in July by John Breaux,D-La., lands delineation manual that contains a so far has gathered at least 24 co-sponsors. less ambiguous definition of the plant,soil NAR President Harley E.Rouda in June and water characteristics that must be issued a Call for Action asking REALTORS® present before a property can be classified to write to their U.S. representatives and as a wetland. urge them to support the House bill. NAR has maintained that the present REALTOR®response to the Call for Action, wetland definition is too broad and places pristine wetlands in the same class as al- ready disturbed wetlands located in highly developed areas. NAR is concerned, however, that the proposed new federal wetlands manual does not address the issue of providing compensation to property owners whose land is found to contain a wetland, says Campbell-White.