Eminent Domain Report

Earlier this month, I reported on a Florida case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  Earlier this week, I reported on some other property-rights issues currently in the news. 

Yesterday, one of my partners, Howard Coleman, took things a step further, attempting to tie recent property-rights issues into a big picture view of what it all may mean for California property owners.   

His piece, Sea Level Rise and Coastal Boundary Lines – Consequences of Climate Change, examines the Florida case ...

One of the big eminent domain stories of the last few weeks involved the oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in the Florida beach case.  That case involves whether a government program to add sand to parts of the Florida coastline, creating new public beaches in front of private property that had been beach front constitutes a taking.  For more information about that case, see my December 15 article, "Erosion Control, or Coney Island South?" published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal. 

Now, two other water-related takings issues are making news.  The first, as reported December 14 by ...

We've previously reported on the increase in renewable energy projects in California, such as Southern California Edison's ("SCE") Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project.  When it comes to wind farms, General Electric now takes the cake:  it has brokered a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines and services for a wind farm that would be larger than any wind farm currently in operation in the world.

According to a December 10 Bloomberg article GE Wins $1.4 Billion Order for Oregon Wind Farm, the 338-turbine wind farm will stretch across 30 square miles in ...

Sierra Madre will allow its citizens to decide whether the city can use the power of eminent domain for private purposes.  According to a Pasadena Star-News article, "Sierra Madre resident[s] will vote on eminent domain," the city council agreed to put a proposed measure on the April 2010 ballot which would prevent the city from (1) condemning property and turning it over to a private developer, and (2) funding or cooperating with any other city agency using eminent domain (such as the Redevelopment Agency).

According to the article, City councilman John Buchanan is ...

Everyone knows the sad tale of America's automotive industry:  companies operating only through government subsidies and dealerships shutting their doors across the country.  So when the City of Vista came up with a plan to "create a second downtown car dealership and boost sales tax revenue," one would think the public would embrace it. 

But like many bold plans, this one has a wrinkle.  While most of the property needed to facilitate the plan is available for purchase, including the existing North County Ford site, one additional parcel is needed.  

According to North County Times ...

Today I attended the latest IRWA Tri-Chapter Installation Lunch for Chapters 1 (Los Angeles), 57 (Inland Empire), and 67 (Orange County).  This year, my home chapter, Chapter 67, hosted the event, which was held at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.  Despite the poor economy, 165 of the finest right-of-way professionals in Southern California showed up, and it was -- as always -- more a holiday celebration lunch than a formal meeting. 

International President Sandy Grigg flew down from Canada to install new officers for Chapters 1 and 57 (Chapter 67 will install new officers in ...

Perhaps the most talked-about California eminent domain case in 2009 has been the City of Stockton v. Marina Towers decision, in which the Court struck down the City's right to take property where the resolution of necessity contained no real public purpose (not surprising, since the City did not know at the time it filed the action what it would do with the property).   The case's tag-line usually played out like this:  the "project" was the condemnation itself, which does not qualify as a public purpose.   

This holding was itself somewhat interesting, as California law ...

A year or so ago, I attended a three-day symposium on regulatory takings that was held at Stanford University. At the end of the symposium, the final panel of speakers was asked to predict what the United States Supreme Court might be doing in the area of takings over the next couple of years. The answer of at least one panelist was essentially nothing. In his view (at least as I understood it), the Supreme Court had been grappling with various takings issues for years without coming up with particularly workable formulas and was done trying.

Well, based on an article in the Los Angeles Times ...

The City of Claremont voted 4-1 to extend its redevelopment agency's eminent domain authority for another 12 years.  In a November 29 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin article, Claremont renews its eminent domain power, reporter Wes Woods, II writes that the the City's redevelopment agency amended its redevelopment plan to prevent its eminent domain authority from lapsing in December. 

The use of eminent domain is often controversial, but especially so when it is for redevelopment purposes.  And, when redevelopment requires condemnation of residential property, the public tends to ...

So it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I thought I should spend some time thinking about what I'm thankful for (apart from Cal's victory at Stanford last Saturday).  Here's a list of three things an eminent domain attorney can be thankful for:

1.   I Live in a Country With Eminent Domain.  I know, who spends time being thankful for eminent domain?  But think about it.  In many places, the government just takes property, paying nothing.  Even in this country, before it was this country, when the Pilgrims took land from existing Native American tribes just after inviting them over for a ...