Eminent Domain Report

Five years ago today, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Kelo v. City of New London, triggering perhaps the most broad sweeping eminent domain reform effort in U.S. history, along with tremendous critical commentary -- including, as just one example, an August 2005 piece on Forbes.com titled Eminent Disaster.

Quite frankly, I'm a bit bored by the decision after five years (I can't begin to count the number of times I've explained the decision and what it means to clients, at seminars and conferences, and on this blog).  However, others are marking the occasion with ...

Last fall, we told you about a key rent control / takings decision, Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, in which the Ninth Circuit held that a rent control ordinance consituted a taking.  In March, we reported that the Ninth Circuit had ordered an en banc hearing of the Guggenheim case. 

Yesterday, the Court held the en banc hearing, and while it may be some time before the Court issues its opinion, the hearing itself may provide some good insights about what may happen (and what it may mean in the larger context of regulatory takings claims).  

Very generally speaking, the Court was critical of ...

Another recent interesting court decision was somewhat lost in all the excitement last week over (1) the County of Los Angeles v. Glendora Redevelopment Project case striking down Glendora's redevelopment plan for inadequate blight findings and (2) the US Supreme Court decision in the Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection case rejecting a "judicial takings" claim. 

That recent decision was by the California Court of Appeal in City of San Jose v. Union Pacific Railroad, which came down a month ago, but received little ...

The Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection case received considerable attention both before the Supreme Court agreed to hear it, and following the very colorful oral argument before the Court last December. 

At issue was whether Florida's efforts to restore some of its beaches through depositing 75-feet of sand seaward of the high-tide line rose to the level of a taking due to the restoration work's causing former beach-front owners' property lines to be moved further away from the ocean water.  

What made the case even ...

One of the big issues in eminent domain over the past five years has been the role of blight in justifying eminent domain for redevelopment purposes.  The seminal decision (that started all the ruckus) -- Kelo v. City of New London -- involved the use of eminent domain for redevelopment purposes where the city did not even pretend it was acting to eliminate blight.

Kelo had little direct impact on California's eminent domain law, because even before the Supreme Court issued its opinion in 2005, California's law allowed eminent domain for redevelopment purposes only upon a proper showing ...

From 1901 to 1961, the Pacific Electric Railway -- or the "Red Car" -- operated as one of Southern California's primary mass transit options, connecting Orange and Los Angeles Counties in a large series of rail corridors.  Now, officials are examining ways to reuse the West Santa Ana Branch Corridor, an abandoned 20-mile rail corridor running from Santa Ana to Paramount. 

According to a June 14 Orange County Register article, "Is reusing the old Pacific Electric Railway a possibility?, the hope is that someone can find a way to use the abandoned rail line to ...

We've previously reported on the City of Vista's moving forward with the use of eminent domain to acquire the Riviera Motel and other properties in order to assemble property for an auto mall.  It appears that the eminent domain dispute has now reached a resolution, as the North County Times is reporting that Vista city council approved a settlement with the motel owner and another nearby property owner.

According to the article, "VISTA: City approves $3.2 million in property purchases," the Riviera Motel owner is receiving compensation of $1.65 million for the .71-acre ...

The City of Lodi held a special meeting of its City Council this week to talk about options for a revised Redevelopment Agency.  And, even though (1) the City has already enacted protections against using eminent domain for redevelopment purposes, and (2) the proposal includes no eminent domain authority, it appears residents are still up in arms over the issue. 

According to a June 10 article by Maggie Creamer of the Lodi News-Sentinel, "Eminent domain a major concern at Lodi City Council's redevelopment meeting," the public appears more concerned with the threat of eminent domain ...

The City of Newport Beach is working on a plan to widen Jamboree Boulevard adjacent to State Route 73 (the northern end of the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road).   The city has acquired much of the property needed for the larger right-of-way, but has not been able to reach agreement with the owner of the Back Bay Court shopping center.   On Tuesday night, the city authorized proceeding with an eminent domain action to acquire the property.

According to a June 9 Orange County Register article by Jeff Overley, "City OKs using eminent domain on mini-mall" ...

A recent post on the Biersdorf & Associates Eminent Domain Blog discussed criteria for hiring an eminent domain attorney.  While reading the post, I found myself agreeing with much of what they have to say, and since finding a qualified eminent domain attorney can be a tricky process, I thought I would pass it along.  That said, I disagree with some of what they say, so I also wanted to offer my own viewpoint.

Biersdorf breaks the inquiry down into three steps ...