Eminent Domain Report

Our office received notice yesterday afternoon that due to the current fiscal crisis, the Los Angeles County Superior Court is closing Department 59, effective February 22.  Everyone who practices eminent domain in Los Angeles knows about Department 59, the Department designated for eminent domain cases in Los Angeles County. 

Commissioner Mitchell has been handling eminent domain cases in Department 59 for many years, and his knowledge of this unique area of law has made pretrial procedures in Los Angeles run smoother than anywhere else in Southern California.   Even for those ...

I will be speaking February 11 at the Sacramento IRWA Chapter's lunch meeting (Chapter 27).  My presentation will be about avoiding pitfalls under the new eminent domain prejudgment possession rules.   This topic has received considerable attention over the past couple of years, and will undoubtedly be the focus of more attention over the next few years as appellate decisions involving the new rules start to appear.  

The meeting details are as follows:

La Provence
110 Diamond Creek Place
Roseville, CA 95747
(916) 789-2002

Board Meeting: 10:30 a.m.
Registration/ Meet & ...

Next week, Chapter 67 of the IRWA (Orange County) is holding its annual Past Presidents' lunch.   The lunch will feature speaker Randall S. Stamen, an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist -- and an attorney.  In case the really long title is slowing you down, I think that means he is a tree expert and, in particular for the IRWA's purposes, that he has expertise in dealing with relocation and valuation of trees impacted by eminent domain actions.  

Though it seems at first glance like a fairly odd topic, tree issues do arise with some regularity in condemnation cases ...

We have previously reported on Tulare County's efforts to acquire right of way for its Road 108 widening and its Road 80 widening.  Now, the County is considering condemning four additional parcels for the Road 108 project. 

In a February 1 article in the Visalia Times Delta, Eminent domain on county board's agenda, Valerie Gibbons reports that the County will decide tomorrow whether to file four more eminent domain actions, which would bring the recent total to 25.  Ms. Gibbons reports that the County's apparent rush to proceed has "had residents up in arms in past meetings."

But the County ...

I mentioned in an article last week that many redevelopment agencies are facing budget issues; the city of Imperial Beach is facing a similar, but slightly different, problem:  after investing over $8 million in bond money for redevelopment of the Miracle Shopping Center, the economic climate has made it impossible for the city to find an interested developer. 

Nevertheless, the city decided to raise more funds, and purchase the shopping center anyway, hoping the city's ownership would make the site more attractive to developers.  With city ownership now in ...

Yesterday, Professor Gideon Kanner, a well-known eminent domain scholar, wrote a critique of my post about Avatar on his "Gideon's Trumpet" blog.  It is an interesting response, in that it spans two full pages of printed text, and his fundamental point seems to be that he agrees with my premise that Avatar is not a film about eminent domain.  

How, then, does he spend two pages responding to my January 26 post, "Is Avatar Really a Political Commentary on Eminent Domain Abuse?"  Well, he begins by "trumpeting" the fact that he writes from an "unabashedly property-owner oriented" ...

On February 3, Chapter 57 of the International Right of Way Association will hold its next lunch meeting.  The speaker will be Barry McDaniel, the CEO at Overland, Pacific and Cutler.  Barry is a well-recognized -- and very successful -- relocation consultant.  He will be speaking about "Move Planning." 

The meeting details are as follows:

Riverside Convention Center
3443 Orange Street
Riverside, California

The meeting starts at 11:30 and should be over by around 1:00.  The cost is $16.00 if you RSVP in advance, and $20.00 at the door.  You can RSVP to Chapter 57 Communications ...

For years, Cathedral City has been acquiring property by eminent domain as part of its 23-acre Eastside Downtown Area redevelopment plan, which seeks to redevelop downtown Cathedral City into a 39-unit commercial center.  Our firm has also been involved in the project for years, having assisted several property owners impacted by the redevelopment agency's plans. 

According to a January 26 Desert Sun article, "Cathedral City council votes to pay $535,000 in eminent domain land deal," Cathedral City recently approved a $535,000 settlement with one of the final remaining ...

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went to see Avatar.  With two young kids, we rarely see movies in the theaters, and we picked this one based on its advertised special effects, not any belief that it was the "best" movie among our choices.  

As I watched, I never really thought of it as an expression of outrage over eminent domain abuse.  Looking around the Internet, however, the movie seems to have been picked up by eminent domain reformists as a big budget example of eminent domain gone bad.  But is it, really?  Let's look at some facts ...

In November, we reported that the Barstow City Council would be deciding whether to reinstate the redevelopment agency's power of eminent domain.  According to a January 20 Desert Dispatch article, "Eminent domain issue sparks fear among residents," the City Council has decided to table the issue until May. 

According to the article, the redevelopment agency sees its eminent domain power as a necessary tool to remove blight in the area northwest of Interstate 15 near the outlet malls.  But like most redevelopment efforts, the issue is drawing much public debate.

At the City ...