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Eminent Domain: First Principles, Kelo, and In Service of Infrastructure Buildout
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Regulatory Takings and Executive Power to Seize Property
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that members of a homeowners’ association are not entitled to severance damages to their residential parcels when common areas are condemned....more
Please join us on March 7, 2024 for a webinar recapping eminent domain and real property cases from the last year. Bernadette Duran-Brown and Steve Silva will provide a comprehensive overview and delve into key decisions from...more
In my last blog, I wrote about the shortcomings of compensating displaced property owners based on the ‘objective’ standard of the market value of their property. That standard ignores the owners’ ‘subjective’ losses, such...more
When we take on an eminent domain case, our primary goal is to put our client in the best position possible. In some cases, that means fighting the taking itself, as my dad (and boss) did in the well-known Wayne County v....more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case that will have far-reaching consequences for interstate pipeline projects. The case, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, involves a FERC-approved natural gas pipeline...more
Complete physical dispossession of a property is not a prerequisite to an award of damages after a condemnation proceeding is abandoned—moving from the property in reliance on the order granting the agency possession is...more
We routinely get calls from owners facing impacts to their property or business as a result of construction of a public project or changes in adjacent public streets. For example, the city or county may close a road, create a...more
Every July 1st in Virginia, we can expect a few things without fail. The summer heat and humidity will have settled down with a ponderous thud, here to remain, unwavering, for the rest of the summer. The cicadas return –...more
A class-action lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania late last week alleges that Governor Wolf’s orders closing non-life sustaining business constitute a taking requiring just compensation under the Fifth...more
As COVID-19 spreads throughout the globe and the United States, our national, state and local governments are taking wide-reaching but necessary actions to respond to this novel coronavirus....more
On February 3, 2020, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 917 (“SB 917”), which would establish a new process for a potential government takeover of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”)....more
In California, we have an admittedly odd way of determining whether the property or business owner in an eminent domain case is entitled to recover attorneys’ fees. (Note that I’m specifically talking about an owner’s...more
In 2012, the City of Somerville, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA), and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development approved the Union Square Revitalization Plan (the Plan), an urban renewal...more
The Ludovico Sculpture Trail (Trail) is located near the Women’s Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls, NY. it’s website can be found at cnyhiking.com/LudovicoTrail.htm. The Trail recently became a centerpiece of a...more
Approximately 20% of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities usually conduct general revaluations every five years as required by law. Due to a quirk in the schedule, 2019 revaluations will be conducted by only 14 communities. While...more
In an eminent domain proceeding, the property owner and the condemning agency each typically introduce evidence of just compensation through valuation experts. The jury is then required to render a verdict in between the...more
On July 1, 2019, new laws passed during the 2019 General Assembly session will go into effect in Virginia. As we do every year, Sands Anderson’s Commercial Real Estate and Community Associations Groups have reviewed this new...more
Like the vast majority of general civil litigation, eminent domain matters usually settle before going to trial. The resolution is typically documented in either a stipulated judgment or a settlement agreement. ...more
As we have seen far too many times in California, eminent domain becomes a key tool for public agencies in order to keep public works construction on schedule and avoid jeopardizing state or federal funding. ...more
Courts have historically been reluctant to look behind a condemnor’s stated purpose for taking property but, in City of Lafayette v. Town of Erie, a Colorado trial court decided to lift that curtain. When it realized...more
It was a busy week of committee meetings for North Carolina with no sign of it slowing down any time soon. The Senate passed SB29: Move Over Law/Increase Penalties, which increases the penalty for drivers that do not move...more
Ever since the demise of redevelopment agencies in 2012, there have been a variety of legislative efforts to revive, incrementally or in whole, some form of redevelopment in California....more
Public entities are often faced with the challenging issue of acquiring property for construction projects. Acquiring property can be a lengthy process depending on property owners’ disposition with regard to selling...more
Earlier this year, the Third Department handed down a surprising upset in the eminent domain arena. See, Matter of Adirondachk Historical Association v Village of Lake Placid, 161 A.D.3d 1256 [3d Dept 2018]....more
As any experienced California eminent domain lawyer knows, there is a unique statutory mechanism that allows parties to bring a legal issues motion to secure a court’s ruling on a litany of issues that impact compensation....more