Eminent Domain Report

On March 20, 2014, the California Transportation Commission allocated $334 Million to 53 projects around the state.  As one Caltrans press release puts it, "Californians will be driving on smoother roads, safer bridges, and enjoying the benefits of enhanced transit."

According to Caltrans' director Malcolm Dougherty:

Every $1 spent on preventive pavement maintenance saves Californians $11 that would have been spent on future pavement repairs.

And we can all hope Caltrans is targeting those dollars in the right places.  Some areas that will be seeing significant funds include:

• $59 ...

Last week, the Court of Appeal issued a decision that may be one of the ones we look back on as among the most significant of 2014 (at least in the world of eminent domain).  For years (and certainly for the entire 20 years I've been doing this), public agencies have utilized a statutory "right of entry" procedure to gain access to private property to conduct investigations and testing before deciding whether to move forward with a condemnation action.  (See Code of Civil Procedure section 1245.010 et seq.)  Often, this happens during the CEQA process, as agencies try to assess the ...

On March 7th, a U.S. District Court sided with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on whether the Uniform Relocation Act (URA) provides private property owners with a private right of action: it does not.  The Pacific Shores Property Owners Association sued the FAA over improvements the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority is required to make to a regional airport, Del Norte County Regional Airport, also known as Jack McNamera Field.  To meet the FAA's runway safety standards, the Authority had to close roads and acquire nearby lots to make up for the wetlands lost as a result ...

In the latest in a string of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that impact right of way issues, on Monday the Court issued its opinion in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States (Case No. 12-1173, March 10, 2014).  The issue in Brandt involved whether the U.S. Government retained a reversionary interest in the easements it granted to railroads pursuant to the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875. 

The decision would impact, in particular, the "rails-to-trails" program, designed to convert old, abandoned railroad rights of way to bike trails.  Under the program, the ...

In hopes of modernizing the nation's infrastructure, President Obama revealed a plan to invest $302 billion in transportation over the next four years.  As reported in Politico , the President hopes the additional funds will not only keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent in the short term, but provide a true long-term vision for a modern infrastructure.  But it is not just highways that will be improved.  The President's plan should also give a boost local agencies that are investing in light rail, street cars, and bus rapid transit.

The President will need support from both parties to ...

Despite being destroyed and dismantled, redevelopment in California has been born once again, this time reincarnated under the name of "Infrastructure Financing Districts."  Last week, Governor Brown signed into law AB 471, which amends section 53395.4 of the California Government Code to allow infrastructure financing districts to finance a project or portion of a project located within a redevelopment project area or former redevelopment project area.

Infrastructure financing district law now provides a mechanism to finance projects that would have otherwise ...

The City of Bakersfield can now purchase property in the path of the Centennial Corridor Project between the Westside Parkway and Highway 58.  Under the early acquisition federal program, the City of Bakersfield may purchase properties from homeowners willing to voluntarily sell their property.  Approval for early acquisition of the sites will be requested at the next City Council meeting on March 5th.

On the other hand, the City may begin eminent domain proceedings for the 24th Street Widening Project to acquire the 23 homes in the project’s path.  The EIR for the project was approved ...

On Wednesday, a Nebraska District Court dealt the Keystone XL pipeline project a heavy blow.  The court invalidated a law that allowed the state's governor to approve the pipeline's passage through Nebraska.  The court ruled that the state's legislature circumvented the Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates pipelines and other utilities, by allowing the governor to approve the route the pipeline would take through Nebraska.  The law also improperly granted TransCanada the power of eminent domain to acquire property within Nebraska, another decision that should ...

As we reported last month, the United States of America and the Federal Aviation Administration had filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the City of Santa Monica in federal court seeking to confirm its alleged right to control the fate of the Santa Monica Airport.  Yesterday, the federal court threw out the City's lawsuit, holding that:

• The Quiet Title Claim was time-barred;
• The takings claim had to be brought before the United States Court of Federal Claims pursuant to the Tucker Act; and
• The Tenth Amendment and Fifth Amendment Due Process Claims were not ripe.  

The federal court ...

As recently reported by Aaron Kinney of the San Mateo County Times, State Senator Jerry Hill is planning to introduce legislating requiring the California State Lands Commission to acquire the private property of a Silicon Valley billionaire.  According to the report, after buying beachfront property for $37.5 million, Vinod Khosla, whose net worth was estimated at $1.5 billion as of September 2013, decided to preclude the public from using a private access road leading to his property and the beach.  Some local residents were apparently upset by the closure ...