BLOG: Condemnation Law
California Supreme Court to Review Pre-Condemnation Entry
Updating our recent entry on the Property Reserve case (here), the California Supreme Court has decided to review the Appellate Court’s finding that the Water Resource Board’s preliminary entry constituted a taking under California’s law of the eminent domain. The appellate court ruling meant that the State was going to have to pay just compensation to... Read More
California Court: Pre-condemnation Entry Statute Unconstitutional
A California appellate court recently declared its pre-condemnation entry statute unconstitutional. Property Reserve, Inc. v. Dep’t of Water Resources (JCCP No. 4594, March 13, 2014). While we are not going to recount all the details of the comprehensive opinion here, the State was seeking access to private property pre-condemnation in connection with a proposed tunnel... Read More
Newark Property Owner Snuffed on Damage Claim After Dismissal of Taking
A New Jersey appellate court recently decided the sequel to a failed condemnation action from 2012 regarding property in Newark. The property in question was commercial property owned in condominium form by New United Corp. and the Essex County Improvement Authority (“ECIA”), containing five buildings and a parking garage. Due to prior disputes between the... Read More
Appeals Court: Hearing Was Required Regarding Impact of Wetlands
On May 6, 2014, the Appellate Division published its opinion in New Jersey Transit v. Mori (Docket No. A-0122-12T4). The case involved acquisition of property impacted by wetlands regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Plaintiff’s estimate of compensation for the one acre (out of fourteen) partial taking was $61,000 given the presence of wetlands... Read More
Netherlands v State – Regulatory Taking Denied
“The State may not put so potent a Hobbesian stick into the Lockean bundle.” Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606, 627 (2001). That was the United States Supreme Court’s response thirteen years ago to Rhode Island’s argument that property owners could claim no loss from legislation shaping and defining property rights enacted prior to... Read More
Update – "House of Cards" Legislation Not Passed
As reported by the Washington Post here, a bill that would have increased the annual “tax credit” budget for production companies filming in Maryland (like Netflix’s House of Cards and HBO’s Veep) from $15M to $18.5M failed to pass last week in Maryland’s General Assembly. The fate of House of Cards filming in Maryland remains... Read More
Maryland Threatens to Take "House of Cards" by Eminent Domain
What skullduggery is this? Netflix/House of Cards’ star, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) was recently spotted in Annapolis lobbying legislators towards a new law that would make available additional tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks from the State of Maryland (reported by Bloomberg here). A legislative hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2013 before Maryland... Read More
You Gotta Be In it To Win It: Kentucky Court Stops Pipeline Taking
A Kentucky court recently stopped a utility company from utilizing eminent domain to build an underground gas pipeline to transport natural gas liquids through the Commonwealth. The case, Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain, Inc. v. Bluegrass Pipeline Company, LLC (Civil Action No. 13-CI-1492), involved the challenge by plaintiff, a non-profit agency formed for the purpose of... Read More
Happy Trails – Property Owner Wins Before USSCT
On March 10, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued its almost unanimous (8-1) decision in Brandt Revocable Trust v United States. The question presented is detailed in our prior blog here, but simply stated, the government argued that it owned the ground underneath an abandoned railroad right-of-way that permitted it to continue the Medicine Bow... Read More
Private Property Rights Protection Act Passed by the House
A federal bill H.R. 1944 introduced back in May of 2013, has been passed by the House of Representatives. Reported here. All the details and text of the bill are set forth in our June 2013 blog. Simply stated, the bill purportedly will punish States that abuse the eminent domain power by limiting federal dollars for... Read More
